Greece

Frank, Tanya, Prosper, Fei

History of the Economic Systems

casestudy of Greece

Structure of analysis

• Time series analysis• Economic structure at each time• What property connote• Who owned property • What means to acquire property• How was it secure property

Classical Greece• Agrarian economy; on persistence• Later, the advent of aristocracy made production to

increase; for payment of rent• Land was the important property• Later, slaves became very important• The economy was broken down into three classes:

citizens, metic and slaves• Only the citizens could own land as aristocrats

• Emphasis was on private property• Which was more family (nuclear) rather individual

property• Acquired through inheritance and marriage• Government only played the role of securing private

property• Common property existed but were more subtle and

were protected by religious myths

Greece in the Hellenistic period323-30BC

• Concept of property had expanded to include artifacts precious metals and commercial fleet

• Yet land and slaves were paramount• Economic activity had grown with several kinds of

exchage• Agriculture had change from substistence• The power of government had increase to possess

much of lands

• Several royal farms, fleet for war and other sorts of property- public

• Private property also existed but could not be over-emphasised

• individuals and families owned lands and slaves as well as commersial fleets

• Government through religion protected common property such as forest and water bodies

Greeco-Roman period

• Time where economic conditions had necessitated the clear outline of what was coonsidered common property

• Government under the cloak of religion came out with stringent laws to debar individuals from destroying forest

• The forest aided in military strategy

Ottoman Greek• Period when property were succintly differentiated • Land was divided into six• Agricultural lands- pasture and arable land were

under public....Miri or wakf• Sites for houses in the village and possible extensions

(mulk and donum) were private property• Common property were the ‘hay’ lands that village

folks could cut hay• Vinyard and orchard were ambiquous• Time when common property really made sense

Greece economy in 20th century

• War for independence• Backward economy• Military dictatorship

HISTORY OF GREEK CONSTITUTION

The Constitution of 1864The Constitution of 1927The Constitution of 1952The Constitution of 1975The Revisions of 1986 and 2001

The Constitution of 1864• The Second National Assembly of Greece took place in

Athens (1863-1864) • It dealt both with the election of a new sovereign as well as

with the drafting of a new Constitution, • Transition from constitutional monarchy to Crowned

Democracy. • The Constitution of 1864 was drafted following the models

of the Constitutions of Belgium of 1831 and of Denmark of 1849

• Principle of popular sovereignty- only legislative body with reversionary powers was now the Parliament.

The Constitution of 1927• On January 2nd, 1924, the Fourth National Assembly convened

and decided on the abrogation of the dynasty as well as on the abolition of the crowned democracy .

• The coup d'etat took place, led by of General Th. Pangalos. • After the fall of his dictatorship in 1926, the "Parliament of the

First Term" was elected, which, finally, voted through the Constitution of 1927.

• The most significant characteristic of the new Constitution of Greece was that it provided for an elected head of state, chosen by the Parliament and the Senate for a five-year term.

• The President of the Republic was politically unaccountable, he did not possess legislative authority and he could dissolve the Parliament with the approval of the Senate.

The Constitution of 1952

• The Constitution of 1952 in Greece was conservative and remained to a great extent faithful to the constitutional texts of 1864 and 1927.

• Its basic innovation was the explicit introduction of the parliamentary system within a regime of Crowned Democracy.

The Constitution of 1975• After the reinstatement of Democracy in the Country in July

1974, the National Unity government, led by C. Karamanlis, set forth as its first goal to strengthen democracy and to obliterate the traumatic experiences of the civil war.

• It reinstated the Constitution of 1952, with the exception of the clauses relating to the King.

• The Constitution of 1975 was composed using as a basis those of 1952 and 1927, as well as the revision proposal of 1963.

• Numerous clauses were also based on the West German Constitution of 1949 and the French constitution of 1958.

• The Constitution of 1975 included an array of individual and social rights, tailored to the needs of that time.

• It introduced a presidential parliamentary republic form of government, wherein the head of the state maintained the right to interfere in political life.

The Constitution of 1975

The Revisions of 1986 and 2001• On March 6, 1986, pursuant to article 110 of the Constitution, which

stipulates that the provisions of the Constitution are subject to revision.

• Eleven articles were amended and a vote was passed transposing the text of the Constitution into demotic Greek.

• In the spring of 2001 a new, more extensive revision of the Constitution was voted in a consensual climate.

• The revised Constitution introduced new individual rights, it introduced new rules of transparency in political life, it reorganised the operation of the Parliament and it reinforced decentralisation.

Private v. Public

Article 17: ideas from Declaration of the Right of Man and Citizen

• Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.

• Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law.

• Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined, shall clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have been previously and equitably indemnified.

Analysis of Article 17 of the Greek Constitution

Constitutional basis of property ownership:

• The legal basis for property ownership is found under Article 17 (1) of the Greece Constitution as Revised in 2001.

Analysis of Article 17 of the Greek Constitution

What does it provide?

Article 17 (1) & (2):• "Property is under the protection of the State; rights deriving

there from, however, may not be exercised contrary to the public interest."

• "No one shall be deprived of his property except for public benefit which must beduly proven, when and as specified by statute and always following full compensation corresponding to the value of the expropriated property....”

Analysis of Article 17 of the Greek Constitution

Types of Property:

• Private Property• Public Property

Analysis of Article 17 of the Greek Constitution

Does it include common property?

• From the wording of article 17 (1), Though, the term "common resources" is not expressly provided by this provision of the Constitution, but still, this provision can be broadly construed to include “common property”

Crisis

Government Actions after Greek Crisis

• Introducing foreign investments• Cut public expenditures• Privatization plan: The sale of stakes in state

utilities, concessions to operate airports and ports, and leases on state property and real estate for tourist development.

Constitutional Limits on Privatization

Origin:

• Concept of delegation (“concession”)• Contracting-out doesn’t entail the alienation of its public

character.• Some activities are objectively, by their nature, inherently

public

Constitutional Limits on Privatization

Test for “constitutional public service”-no privatization:• Distinction between public ownership of economic

enterprises: related to the fulfillment of public function or not;

• If not related, the privatization isn’t a constitutional problem.• If related, whether it is protected by a concrete, specific

constitutional provision; or whether it falls in the ambit of a fundamental constitutional principle, either the democratic principle or the Social State.

Constitutional Limits on Privatization

• Democratic principle: democracy covers not only the setting up of rules but also their implementation.

• Social state: the State has the constitutional obligation to assume interventionist functions in the economic and social spheres. An additional requirement: even if a delegation is constitutionally permissible, it still should be adequately structured to ensure accountability, quality and equality of provision.

Testing Greek Privatization

Public function

Fundamental Cons. principle

Democratic principle

Social stateCons.

provisions

Problems with Privatization• Private actors cannot be accountable for their actions.• Accountability, transparency, participation, solidarity and

fairness are public values of citizenship that are not easily transferable in privatized environment.

• Private contractors have disproportionate power over the users.

• New surveillance techniques and procedural guarantees, but with limitations

Future Implications

• Privatization package is not constitutionally challenged, and it’s supposed to help Greece solve the crisis.

• When the problems of privatization start to surface, how to bring the commons back?