Political Resilience in Times of Economic Crisis and Local Government Reforms

Abstract

Economic crisis and fiscal consolidation policy in Greece had a tremendous impact on local government finances and the provision of services and local public goods to citizens and localities. The implementation of these policies resulted in deterioration of service delivery and caused serious discontent towards the local representatives. As a result, the local political system and the representatives were unable to sustain the political discontent of the local people who voted against them. The chapter presents the implemented policy, the political discontent and the voting outcomes for the case of the Municipality of Volos and examines the resilience of the local political system under the pressures for reforms and the implementation of restrictive policies during the period 2010-2014.