Greece what type of government

The Parliament is headed by the Speaker. The Parliament undertakes the legislative functions of the government. Voting for the parliament is compulsory in Greece, and election of deputies is done through the secret, universal, and direct ballot.

Judicial duties in Greece are undertaken by an independent judiciary. At the top of the judicial system is the Supreme Court, which is the highest court of appeal and is comprised of both civil and penal sections. Administrative disputes and violations of laws are settled by a Council of State, which also revises disciplinary procedures relating to civil servants.

Fiscal cases are decided by the Comptrollers Council. The prime minister is appointed by the president. Supreme court can take on "contradictory" decisions, or judge the constitutionality of a legal provision differently. The supreme special court can declare an unconstitutional legal provision as "powerless", and is also the supreme electoral court by judging pleas against the legality of the legislative elections.

Judges are appointed by a presidential decree and are dismissed only after a judicial decision. Presidents and vice-presidents of the three supreme courts as well as the prosecuting attorney of the court of cassation are chosen by the cabinet. Greece was proclaimed a republic in , but George II returned to the throne in , and a plebiscite in upheld the monarchy.

It was finally abolished, however, by referendum on December 8, , when more than two-thirds of the voters supported the establishment of a republic.

That date is celebrated in Greece by the one-word reply--ochi "no" --symbolizing the Greek Prime Minister's rejection of the surrender demand made by Mussolini. Despite Italian superiority in numbers and equipment, determined Greek defenders drove the invaders back into Albania. Hitler was forced to divert German troops to protect his southern flank and attacked Greece in early April By the end of May, the Germans had overrun most of the country, although Greek resistance was never entirely suppressed.

German forces withdrew in October , and the government in exile returned to Athens. After the German withdrawal, the principal Greek resistance movement, which was controlled by the communists, refused to disarm. A banned demonstration by resistance forces in Athens in December ended in violence and was followed by an intense, house-to-house battle with Greek Government and British forces. After 3 weeks, the communists were defeated, and an unstable coalition government was formed.

Continuing tensions led to the dissolution of that government and the outbreak of full-fledged civil war in First the United Kingdom and later the United States gave extensive military and economic aid to the Greek Government.

Communist successes in enabled them to move freely over much of mainland Greece, but with extensive reorganization and American material support, the Greek National Army was slowly able to regain control over most of the countryside. Yugoslavia closed its borders to the insurgent forces in , after Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia broke with Stalin and the Soviet Union. In August , the National Army under Marshal Alexander Papagos launched a final offensive that forced the remaining insurgents to surrender or flee across the northern border into the territory of Greece's communist neighbors.

The insurgency resulted in , killed and caused catastrophic economic disruption. In addition, at least 25, Greeks were either voluntarily or forcibly evacuated to Eastern bloc countries, while , became displaced persons inside the country. It was followed by a succession of unstable coalition governments. On April 21, , just before scheduled elections, a group of colonels led by Col. George Papadopoulos seized power in a coup d'etat. Civil liberties were suppressed, special military courts were established, and political parties were dissolved.

Several thousand political opponents were imprisoned or exiled to remote Greek islands. Dimitrios Ioannides replaced Papadopoulos and tried to continue the dictatorship.

Ioannides' attempt in July to overthrow Archbishop Makarios, the President of Cyprus, brought Greece to the brink of war with Turkey, which invaded Cyprus and occupied part of the island. Senior Greek military officers then withdrew their support from the junta, which toppled.

Leading citizens persuaded Karamanlis to return from exile in France to establish a government of national unity until elections could be held. Karamanlis' newly organized party, New Democracy ND , won elections held in November , and he became prime minister. Following the referendum which resulted in the rejection of the monarchy, a new constitution was approved by parliament on June 19, , and parliament elected Constantine Tsatsos as President of the republic.

In the parliamentary elections of , New Democracy again won a majority of seats. George Rallis was then chosen party leader and succeeded Karamanlis as Prime Minister. Greece had two rounds of parliamentary elections in ; both produced weak coalition governments with limited mandates. Party leaders withdrew their support in February , and elections were held on April 8.

In the April election, ND won seats and subsequently gained 2 others. A split between Mitsotakis and Samaras led to the collapse of the ND government and new elections in September The constitution, which describes Greece as a "presidential parliamentary republic," includes extensive specific guarantees of civil liberties and vests the powers of the head of state in a president elected by parliament and advised by the Council of the Republic.

The Greek governmental structure is similar to that found in many Western democracies and has been described as a compromise between the French and German models. The prime minister and cabinet play the central role in the political process, while the president performs some governmental functions in addition to ceremonial duties.

The president is elected by parliament to a 5-year term and can be reelected once. The president has the power to declare war and to conclude agreements of peace, alliance, and participation in international organizations; upon the request of the government a three-fifths parliamentary majority is required to ratify such actions, agreements, or treaties.

The president also can exercise certain emergency powers, which must be countersigned by the appropriate cabinet minister. Changes to the constitution in limited the president's political powers. As a result, the president may not dissolve parliament, dismiss the government, suspend certain articles of the constitution, or declare a state of siege.

To call a referendum, he must obtain approval from parliament. Parliamentary deputies are elected by secret ballot for a maximum of 4 years, but elections can be called earlier.

Greece uses a complex reinforced proportional representation electoral system which discourages splinter parties and makes a parliamentary majority possible even if the leading party falls short of a majority of the popular vote. Greece is divided into 51 prefectures, each headed by a prefect, who is elected by direct popular vote.

There are also 13 regional administrative districts peripheries , each including a number of prefectures and headed by a regional governor periferiarch , appointed by the Minister of the Interior. In northern Greece and in greater Athens, three areas have an additional administrative position between the nomarch and periferiarch.

This official, known as the president of the prefectural local authorities or "super nomarch," is elected by direct popular vote. Although municipalities and villages have elected officials, they do not have an adequate independent tax base and must depend on the central government for a large part of their financial needs.

Consequently they are subject to numerous central government controls. Under the Greek constitution, education is the responsibility of the state. Most Greeks attend public primary and secondary schools.

There are a few private schools, which must meet the standard curriculum of and be supervised by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education oversees and directs every aspect of the public education process at all levels, including hiring all teachers and professors and producing all required textbooks.

The Greek Orthodox Church is under the protection of the state, which pays the clergy's salaries, and Orthodox Christianity is the "prevailing" religion of Greece according to the constitution. The Muslim minority, concentrated in Thrace, was given legal status by provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne in and is Greece's only officially recognized minority. The Greek media, collectively, is a very influential institution--usually aggressive, sensationalist, and frequently irresponsible with regard to content.

Objectivity as known to the U. Most of the media are owned by businessmen with extensive commercial interests in other sectors of the economy.

They use their newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV channels to promote their commercial enterprises as well as to seek political influence. In , the Ministry of Press and Information was established to deal with media and communication issues. ERT S.

The Minister of Press also serves as the primary government spokesman. For international news, CNN is a particular influence in the Greek market; the major TV channels often use it as a source.

Although the U. The Greeks are often credited with pioneering a democratic government that went on to influence the structure of the United States. Read this article that describes how elements of ancient Greek democracy heavily influenced the figures that designed the United States government.

Citizenship is the status of being a citizen, belonging to a nation, and having the associated rights and responsibilities. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom.

Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

Media If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. Text Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

Interactives Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. Related Resources. Ancient Greece. View Collection.