ABSTRACT
Public sector reform is an old and recurring issue in Greece. Since the 1950s, after the end of World War II and the Greek Civil War (1944-1949), public sector reform has been a permanent government priority. Public sector reform formed a part of reconstruction plans from the 1950s onwards of all governments (Danopoulos and Danopoulos 2009). Governments are not famous for efficiency (Olson 1973: 355), but after a variety of political dynasties (notably the Karamanlis and Papandreou families), the Greek government became infamous for the triple public sector bailout in 2010, in 2012 and in 2015. In the Third Hellenic Republic, since 1974 after the fall of the 1967-74 military regime and the end of autocratic regimes, public sector expansion and change has been continuous. Expansion and reform have been incorporated in more than 4,400 pieces of legislation adopted by the Parliament (not to mention tens of thousands of Presidential Decrees), 1,000 of which have been adopted since 2010 when the EC-ECB-IMF adjustment programs for Greece started (EC 2010, 2012).
