| This study explores the nature of the Greek political culture and investigates its effects on individual attitudes/behaviors, i.e., positive views towards democracy, support for European membership, and voting for the left. The significance of these attitudes lies in the fact that they reflect systemic developments that took place in the last three decades in Greece. These developments are (a) restoration of democracy, (b) admission in the EU, and (c) accession of a leftist party to power. Two widely used cultural paradigms, i.e., the "civil model" and the "cultural shift hypothesis" find little support in Greece. Previous studies on Greek political culture emphasize certain cultural features---such as, cynicism, lack of civic culture, introvert orientation, patriotism, and materialist value priorities---that are inconsistent with the attitudes under investigation and with the major systemic developments in Greece.;In search of other alternatives, this study examines the relevance of two other cultural models. One is Wildavsky's cultural theory of preferences, or "ways of life" (egalitarianism, individualism, fatalism and hierarchy), and another is Diamandouros's theory of the twin rival cultures in Greek society (underdog and modern). Various survey items are utilized from the 1997 Euro-barometer data to construct indexes that constitute numerous variables used for cross-tab statistics and multiple regression models.;Using both qualitative (socio-economic analysis) and quantitative (survey data) techniques, this study confirms previous postulations that the Greek political culture paradoxically combines suspicion and mistrust for authorities with an extreme interest in politics and high levels of participation. A historical/sociological analysis of Greek society provides multiple explanations and offers numerous implications regarding this odd coexistence. Also telling is the fact that, despite regional disparities, the dominant culture is "egalitarianism," which according to Wildavsky's scheme, is a cynical-participant political culture. Making no causal postulations about the workability/stability of the Greek political system, this study reveals a link between political culture (in particular fatalistic and introvert/underdog values) and individual attitudes/behavior. Both Wildavsky's and Diamandouros's cultural schemes are thus proven important predictors of the individual attitudes that reflect systemic transformations in Greece, paving the way for their future applications in subsequent studies. |
