ABSTRACT
For the first time in the history of the common currency, the people were given the option of expressing their preference on the bailouts and austerity policies that, since 2010, have characterized the attempts to prevent the collapse of the Eurozone. But leading countries, including Germany and France, solemnly declared that the referendum was about whether Greece wanted to remain in the Eurozone, and that a victory of "No" would mean exit. The stakes were therefore very high, and it was watched closely, especially by populists in other Eurozone countries, including Italy, that are working towards the same goal. It was exciting but exaggerated, because the results of a referendum could not reverse the dynamics that characterized the Eurozone debacle in Greece up until then, namely, humiliating bailouts, economic depression, and the asymmetrical power relations between creditors and debtors that were the main driving force of these developments.
