From Discretionary to Discipline:Policy Change in Greece After Crisis

Dimas Fauzi, Rochdi Mohan Nazala

2015 | Skripsi | Ilmu Hubungan Internasional

Abstract Policy change, especially the significant one, is something rare in Greece. Ruling political parties, as the legitimate decision makers, are not inclined to impose any significant change due to its unforeseen consequences. And yet, since Greece approved the rescue packages in 2010 and 2012 from international institutions, namely European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) –herewith “troika”, significant policy change started to appear. Generally speaking, each package consists of bailout funds and austerity measures. The latter is aimed at promoting sustainable fiscal balance for Greece mainly through fiscal policy tools to enhance revenue and reduce expenditure. Drawing from these instances, this research will attain two-folded goals which are to assess the extent to which policy change in Greece is deemed to be significant rather than incremental and how this policy change happens. Based on the Punctuated Equilibrium (PE) model employed as the main analytical tool in this research, the extent to which policy change in Greece is considered significant can be seen from the drop in government expenditure, changes in some policy domains and the nature of policy feedback. Furthermore, this significant change can be understood by looking at the promotion of policy image done by policy entrepreneur and the change in institutional policy venue. The interaction between policy image and policy venue provides the chance for significant change to happen. It is supported by disturbance or policy punctuation on Greece’s political system in the forms of economic crisis and leadership change. Keywords: austerity measures, debt crisis, fiscal consolidation, Greece, policy change

Kata Kunci : Partai Politik -Yunani