The disentanglement of interest politics: Business associability, the parties and policy in Italy and Greece

Abstract

The article explores changes in the politics of business associability in Italy and Greece, focusing in particular on a set of comparable domestic and European developments that have played the roles of stimuli for the slow but unmistakable transformation of interest politics. Against a background of intense politicization, changes that are taking place since the 1980s suggest that organized interests become disentangled from the linkages which sustained party colonization and state dominance. Changes in interest politics were facilitated by the transition to a majoritarian system (in Italy) and party alternation (in Greece). The disentanglement we refer to would be difficult under conditions of sharing-out government; conversely, alternating governments facilitate changes in the relationships between interests, parties and policy-making. Apart from the domestic sources of change, the article argues that shifts in interest politics are the combined outcome of wider challenges and of the impact of Europeanization. On the basis of this analysis, we speculate that the disentanglement of interest politics may be conducive to national policy adjustment in two possible scenarios. Either by enabling intersectoral agreements over policy issues or by freeing national policymaking from the burden of oligopolistic coalitions -a social democratic and a neoliberal scenario respectively.

In the Red

“…Consequently, by the time fiscal problems started to manifest them-selves in earnest, both parties had important constituencies in all of the major vested interest groups. New Democracy was still the major advocate for business interests and had important support among managerial private sector employees (Lanza and Lavdas 2000;Lavdas 2005); but it also had a crucial base among the old civil servants and public employees, who resented the dilution of their privileges among the masses of new political appointees (Mavrogordatos 1997), and it could also count on the vote of the majority of farmers and the self-employed (Nicolacopoulos 2005). PASOK had a very similar supporter base, although the weights were slightly different.…”

“…Its strongest base was in the public sector and among lower level private employees, but it also received decent voter backing from farmers and the self-employed (Nicolacopoulos 2005). After the worst years of hostility in the first half of the 1980s, it made peace with the peak business organization (SEV) and engaged in limited concertation with business in the course of the first stabilization package between 1985 and 1987 (Lanza and Lavdas 2000). This distribution of voter support made it very risky for both parties to move decisively to cut spending on public employees, to reform pension arrangements or to fight tax evasion, because upsetting any of the major groups was likely to cause their vote share to drop enough to make them lose the next election.…”

The Greek Referendum: An Alternative Approach

“…Greece in the last Decade is an classical case of the so-called "political malaise", that finds an obviously articulation in an rapid decline in party membership, an massive distrust of people against politics , politicians and public institutions , in an increasing number of de-aligned and disillusioned voters open to radical left or right political options that expresses an social messianism for everyone, the existence of Leaders willing to exploit existing socio-economical situation to his advantage and in an media landscape that presents facts and opinions in an way that creates even more anti-political atmosphere and contribute to popularization of populism parties(Mavrozacharakis/ Tzagarakis/ Kamekis : 2015), . But first of all Greece is an problematic case of policy adjustment that has to do with the party colonization and state domination of interest politics, like stated by Lanza and Lavdas ( 2000) …”

Social Partnership in Greece: Is There a Europeanization Effect?

“…Strong state links apply to employers too, though the post-1974 picture is again mixed. On the one hand there were increasing pluralist tendencies and emancipatory moves away from state dependence, and on the other persistent sectoral corporatist practices in areas such as shipping (Lanza and Lavdas, 2000). Overall, employers have been in close collaboration with successive governments to promote their agenda.…”