The Parliament

The chapter focuses on the Greek parliamentary system in a comparative perspective from a constitutional and political viewpoint. Main concerns are the constitutional doctrine of checks and balances, the level of parliamentary accountability and scrutiny, and the quality of the legislative process. The first section examines the Hellenic parliament within the constitutional architecture. Two key features are identified: the wide privilege and immunities enjoyed by the parliament, both as a constitutional agency and individually by parliamentarians; and the interpolarity of the parliament vis-à-vis the executive, the president of the republic, the judiciary, and international organizations. The second section examines parliament within political practice. Three key characteristics are identified thereof: majoritarian and divisive parliamentarism, clientelism and nepotism, and imbalanced parliamentarism. The chapter concludes that parliamentarism in Greece deteriorated, especially during the financial crisis, thus producing legal confusion and polynomy, a high level of party discipline and extreme accumulation of power to the executive, a very limited level of accountability and meritocracy, and the rise of extremist and populist parties in parliament.