Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Identity and Culture
- 3 Demographics
- 4 Education
- 5 Employment
- 6 Industry and Occupation
- 7 Health
- 8 Politics
- 9 Economics
- 10 Environment
- 11 Social Cohesion
- 12 Policy
- 13 Conclusion
- References
- Appendix: Sources of Data
8 - Politics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 April 2023
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Identity and Culture
- 3 Demographics
- 4 Education
- 5 Employment
- 6 Industry and Occupation
- 7 Health
- 8 Politics
- 9 Economics
- 10 Environment
- 11 Social Cohesion
- 12 Policy
- 13 Conclusion
- References
- Appendix: Sources of Data
Summary
The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of the heart.
Mahatma Gandhi (Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal/Gandhi Book Centre, 2014)
Preserving democratic governance and human rights is considered to be one of the key contemporary values of Europe. It is also one of the key ‘Copenhagen criteria’ that needs to be met before any country can be considered as a potential member of the European Union. According to the 2008 European Values Survey, only a very small fraction of Europeans said they ‘disagreed strongly’ when asked if democracy is the best political system. This map shows their geographical distribution. Kosovo has the largest percentage of population strongly disagreeing with this statement. However, the value for Kosovo is only 4.5%, followed by Bulgaria (3.1%).
People disagreeing strongly with the statement that democracy is the best political system may, of course, believe that there is a better system that no one has invented yet, and that what many countries currently have is not the best there could ever be. Alternatively they may think that what is called a democratic system is, in fact, easily manipulated by a few ‘special interests’ with access to money, the media and politicians. This group may also include people who can remember, or have been told stories about, less democratic times in their own country when they thought the area was better run than it is today. It is notable that in Italy and Greece in 2008, very few people were strongly opposed to democracy.
At 57, the thrice-married motherof- three has long been a ubiquitous presence on the political landscape of Greece, a defining figure who began as the iconic ‘voice of the Polytechnic’ during the 1973 students’ revolt against the military dictatorship … Damanaki, who would spend seven months in prison after the regime crushed the rebellion, still bears the scars of that time. Memories of days spent in solitary confinement in a darkened cell at Athens’s notorious military police headquarters return to haunt her.
Smith, 2010, on Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
According to the 2008 European Values Survey, an estimated 2% of all respondents believe that the army ruling the country would be a very good political system. This map shows their geographical distribution.
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- Information
- The Social Atlas of Europe , pp. 109 - 120Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2014