Government–Opposition Dynamics during the Economic Crisis in Greece

This contribution examines the turbulent period of 2010–12 when Greece became the first European Union member state to accept the International Monetary Fund/European Union bailout package, which had significant electoral consequences. The May 2012 election was characterised by unprecedented electoral volatility and a reshuffling of the party system. An understanding of this development is sought by focusing on the relationship between government and opposition parties in terms of their MPs' legislative voting behaviour on key economic bills in the aforementioned period. It is observed that although the economic crisis seems to have decreased the importance of the traditional left–right dimension, the bailout agreements reinforced the conflict between the responsive and responsible aspects of representative government and created a new conflict dimension over supporters and opponents of the bailout agreements. This contribution concludes with a call to reassess the impact of European integration on national party systems.