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Interest Groups in Disjointed Corporatism: Social Dialogue in Greece and European ‘Competitive Corporatism’

2005; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 28; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01402380500059769

1743-9655

Kostas A. Lavdas,

European Union Policy and Governance

Abstract The article explores the strategic and political parameters influencing the ways in which the main economic interest groups become involved in policy in contemporary Greece. The fact that social dialogue in Greece remains an exercise with a limited scope has been largely due to the fact that there is a difficult match between Greece's 'disjointed corporatism' and the EU's emerging 'competitive corporatism'. A number of European trade unions have agreed to a new 'competitive bargain', which is asymmetrical but which gives them the opportunity to get involved in 'competitive corporatism'. Greek responses to this trend have been inconclusive: while there are clearly pockets within union leaderships which would welcome the opportunity to approve the basic liberalising goals in exchange for guarantees for established workers and participation in the political framing of their implementation, the structural features of the Greek interest intermediation system work against such a possibility. Whether this leads to an evolving 'segmented pluralism' or another form remains to be seen – the extent of the synchronicity of developments with other EU states will depend in part on the outcome of this transition. In previous decades, the country's transition from asymmetric state corporatism to disjointed corporatism went through the contours of an embracing strategy of Europeanisation. It is an open question whether an equivalent strategy for the twenty-first century will be able to restructure the socio-political scene. Notes Meaning, literally, 'guilds' – a pejorative signifier in public discourse, aiming to convey the supposedly closed, protected and inward-looking nature of interest organisations. On Greek political culture see Demertzis (1994 Demertzis Nikolas ed 1994 [Greek Political Culture Today] Athens: Odysseas [Google Scholar]; 1997 Demertzis Nikolas 1997 Greece in Roger Eatwell (ed.), European Political Cultures:Conflict or Convergence, London: Routledge 107 21 [Google Scholar]), Charalambis and Demertzis (1993 Charalambis, Dimitris and Demertzis, Nikolas. 1993. Politics and Citizenship in Greece: Cultural and Structural Facets. Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 11:2: 219–40. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and Lavdas (2000 Lavdas Kostas, A 2000 Reconceptualising Politics: Concepts of Politics in Modern Greek Political Culture Paper for ECPR Joint Sessions, Workshop on 'The History of Political Concepts: A New Perspective on European Political Cultures', Copenhagen, 14–19 April. Forthcoming in book form in Greek [Google Scholar]). See Schmitter (1995 Schmitter Philippe, C 1995 Organized Interests and Democratic Consolidation in Southern Europe in Richard Gunther, Nikiforos P. Diamandouros and Hans-Jürgen Puhle (eds.), The Politics of Democratic Consolidation: Southern Europe in Comparative Perspective, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 284 314 [Google Scholar]), Lanza and Lavdas (2000 Lanza, Orazio and Lavdas A, Kostas. 2000. The Disentanglement of Interest Politics. European Journal of Political Research, 37:2: 203–35. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and the relevant sections in Sapelli (1995 Sapelli Guilio 1995 Southern Europe since 1945 London: Longman [Google Scholar]). The Labour Home operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour and is responsible for the management of funds generated from the contributions of employers and employees. Fragmentation in the system of interest groups assumes two forms. First, there is the great number of primary-level unions (c. 7000) and the weak links between the primary level and the higher levels. Second, there is also considerable fragmentation along party-political lines. Although this fragmentation in most cases does not express itself at the level of peak associations, even within a single organisational structure (such as the GSEE) there exist powerful political factions (PASKE, DAKE, ESAK-S, AEM), which represent the views of the respective political parties within the association. In Greece and more generally in Southern Europe, interest fragmentation goes hand in hand with strong party influences within unions (Schmitter 1995 Schmitter Philippe, C 1995 Organized Interests and Democratic Consolidation in Southern Europe in Richard Gunther, Nikiforos P. Diamandouros and Hans-Jürgen Puhle (eds.), The Politics of Democratic Consolidation: Southern Europe in Comparative Perspective, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 284 314 [Google Scholar]). But the organisational forms of interest representation at the peak level have remained unitary in the Greek case. On the organisation of other economic and professional interests see Lavdas (1997 Lavdas Kostas, A 1997 The Europeanization of Greece: Interest Politics and the Crises of Integration London: Macmillan [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; 2001 Lavdas Kostas, A 2001 Griechenland: Verbande und Politik in Werner Reutter and Peter Rutters (eds.), Verbande und Verbandssysteme in Westeuropa, Opladen: UTB fur Wissenschaft and Leske & Budrich 151 69 [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; 2004 Lavdas Kostas, A 2004 [Interests, Politics and Democracy] Athens: Papazisis [Google Scholar]), Kioukias (1994 Kioukias Dimitris 1994 [The Organization of Interests in Greece: Integration and Access to the State] Athens: Exantas [Google Scholar]) and Tsinisizelis (1996 Tsinisizelis Michalis, J 1996 Greece in Dietrich Rometsch and Wolfgang Wessels (eds.), TheEuropean Union and Member States: Towards an Institutional Fusion, Manchester: Manchester University Pres 216 52 [Google Scholar]). It is often the case that the process through which members of business groups form their views on their self-interest is an interactive process and depends on particular political and associational conditions (Vogel 1978 Vogel, David. 1978. Why Businessmen Distrust their State: The Political Consciousness of American Corporate Executives. British Journal of Political Science, 8:1: 45–78. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). In Greece, the prevalence of politicised linkages between economic actors and governmental institutions influenced business groups towards a state-oriented and often particularistic mentality. In turn, this mentality became an obstacle to further associational development. Since 1974, the influence of the issue of EC/EU membership (and prospective membership) became an important stimulus in (a) transforming certain policy aspects of the environment of business activity, while also (b) encouraging the organisational development of more professionalised practices for the mediation of business interests (Lavdas 1996 Lavdas Kostas, A 1996 The Political Economy of Privatization in Southern Europe in Derek Braddon and Deborah Foster (eds.), Privatization: Social Sciences, Themes and Perspectives Aldershot: Dartmouth. Reprinted in Vincent Wright and Luisa Perotti (eds.), Privatization and Public Policy Vol. I, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing 233 61 [Google Scholar]; 1997 Lavdas Kostas, A 1997 The Europeanization of Greece: Interest Politics and the Crises of Integration London: Macmillan [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). On the differences between strategies and tactics in the analysis of interest groups see Baumgartner and Leech (1998 Baumgartner Frank R Leech Beth, L 1998 Basic Interests: The Importance of Groups in Politics and in Political Science Princeton: Princeton University Press [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]: 162–63). On the more inclusive concept of social strategy see Gamble (1990 Gamble Andrew 1990 Britain in Decline: Economic Policy, Political Strategy, and the British State 3rd edn, London: Macmillan [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). The institutional continuities with the system before 1967 and the very slow evolution of legal and institutional forms, create difficulties for the analytical approach to the Greek case from a comparative perspective. Be that as it may, in terms of behavioural and actual political capacities, the combination of extensive but weak state structures, the legacy of asymmetric state corporatism, comprehensive but internally fragmented interest structures and party-political influences would lead to the characterisation of the Greek case as one of 'disjointed corporatism' (Lavdas 1997 Lavdas Kostas, A 1997 The Europeanization of Greece: Interest Politics and the Crises of Integration London: Macmillan [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) possibly leading to 'segmented pluralism' (Lanza and Lavdas 2000 Lanza, Orazio and Lavdas A, Kostas. 2000. The Disentanglement of Interest Politics. European Journal of Political Research, 37:2: 203–35. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). It is crucial to distinguish between (a) the utilisation of certain consociational practices and (b) the operation of a consociational system characterised by comprehensive institutionalised rules, which aim to promote effective decision-making through compromise politics. Such a system may create the conditions for societal corporatist arrangements, although the development and sustainability of the latter will depend also on the organisational properties and strategies of interests (that is, a consociational system provides a facilitating background for societal corporatism, but the latter is not simply a dimension of consociationalism: it presupposes features that are specific to interest politics and policy). On the links between consociational traditions and successful societal corporatism and concertation in policy-making see Scholten (1987 Scholten Ilja ed 1987 Political Stability and Neo-Corporatism London: Sage [Google Scholar]). Long-established clientelistic relationships have been transforming themselves, moving in the direction of a form of clientelism in which the roles of political parties and of party–state relationships become decisive (Charalambis 1989 Charalambis Dimitris 1989 [Clientelistic Linkages and Populism] Athens: Exantas [Google Scholar]). Preferential relationships developing in this way within the political system tend to favour mutual public–private transformations in the direction of a closed, segmented and oligopolistic pluralism. An interesting comparative example is provided by the relationships between politics and associations which existed in Italy before 1992 (Lanza and Lavdas 2000 Lanza, Orazio and Lavdas A, Kostas. 2000. The Disentanglement of Interest Politics. European Journal of Political Research, 37:2: 203–35. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). In Greece, the party alternation in government in 1981 was not only a crucial test for the consolidation of democracy but also a crucial factor in putting pressure on interest groups, making them search for a more detached position in the political system. Of course, such 'positive' influences have been objective rather than intentional on the part of the PASOK governments in the 1980s: in government, PASOK continued the practice of state interference in the internal affairs of GSEE (Spourdalakis 1988 Spourdalakis Michalis 1988 The Rise of the Greek Socialist Party London: Routledge [Google Scholar]: 246–49) resulting in an internal crisis within the GSEE. For analysis of the PASOK phenomenon see Spourdalakis (1988 Spourdalakis Michalis 1988 The Rise of the Greek Socialist Party London: Routledge [Google Scholar]; 1998 Spourdalakis Michalis 1998 PASOK: The Telling Story of a Unique Organizational Structure in Piero Ignazi and Colette Ysmal (eds.), The Organization of Political Parties in Southern Europe, Westport, CT: Praeger 202 20 [Google Scholar]) Gravaris (1998 Gravaris Dionysis 1998 ' [The Building of the Welfare State] in Michalis Spourdalakis (ed.), [PASOK: Party, State, Society], Athens: Patakis 92 125 [Google Scholar]) and the contributions in Clogg (1993 Clogg Richard ed 1993 Greece 1981–89: The Populist Decade London: Macmillan [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). As mentioned, Greek business presented a striking organisational and strategic contrast to Greek labour: it retained much of its organisational autonomy from the state and was able to develop considerable capabilities vis-à-vis political institutions. Aspects of this asymmetry and its implications can be found in a number of policy areas, from shipping and transport to industrial relations and social policy (see, inter alia, Vernardakis and Mavris 1991 Vernardakis Christoforos Mavris Jiannis 1991 [Parties and Social Coalitions in Pre-Dictatorial Greece] Athens: Exantas [Google Scholar]; Stamatis 1995 Stamatis Giorgos ed 1995 [For a Critique of Social Sciences] Athens: Kritiki [Google Scholar]; Lavdas 1997 Lavdas Kostas, A 1997 The Europeanization of Greece: Interest Politics and the Crises of Integration London: Macmillan [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Gravaris 1998 Gravaris Dionysis 1998 ' [The Building of the Welfare State] in Michalis Spourdalakis (ed.), [PASOK: Party, State, Society], Athens: Patakis 92 125 [Google Scholar]; 2002 Gravaris Dionysis 2002 ' [The Demand for Political Modernisation] in [Ideological Currents and Intellectual Trends in Today's Greece], Athens: Sakis Karayiorgas Foundation 330 56 [Google Scholar]). If the social partners reach agreement, the Council of Ministers can give the ensuing text the force of law. If they are unable to reach agreement, the Council may proceed with legislation of its own (the 'negotiate or we will legislate' threat). On the Europeanisation of domestic actors, institutions and policies see, inter alia, Ladrech (1994 Ladrech, Robert. 1994. Europeanization of Domestic Politics and Institutions: The Case of France. Journal of Common Market Studies, 32:1: 69–88. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]); Rometsch and Wessels (1996 Rometsch Dietrich Wessels Wolfgang eds 1996 The European Union and Member States Manchester: Manchester University Press [Google Scholar]); Lavdas (1997 Lavdas Kostas, A 1997 The Europeanization of Greece: Interest Politics and the Crises of Integration London: Macmillan [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]); Featherstone (1998 Featherstone, Kevin. 1998. Europeanisation and the Centre Periphery: The Case of Greece in the 1990s. 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The major beneficiaries of these reforms, apart from the interest groups, which were mentioned above, have been the localities themselves and their political, administrative and technocratic personnel (Kioukias 1994 Kioukias Dimitris 1994 [The Organization of Interests in Greece: Integration and Access to the State] Athens: Exantas [Google Scholar]: 202–3). In this process, regional and local authorities also acquire ever-greater degrees of autonomy and ability to act as interest groups in the wider European policy arenas. To the extent, that is, that their success required social relations other than pure markets, on the one hand, and hierarchies, on the other (Crouch and Streeck 1997 Crouch Colin Streeck Wolfgang 1997 Introduction: The Future of Capitalist Diversity in Colin Crouch and Wolfgang Streeck (eds.), Political Economy of Modern Capitalism, London: Sage 1 18 [Google Scholar]: 8–9). For a roughly equivalent critique coming from a different methodological direction and aiming directly at the 'social capital' variety of institutionalism see Van Deth (2000 Van Deth, Jan, W. 2000. Interesting but Irrelevant: Social Capital and the Saliency of Politics in Western Europe. European Journal of Political Research, 37:2: 115–47. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). For a more optimistic assessment of peculiarities and possibilities in the area of Greece's political culture see Lavdas (2000 Lavdas Kostas, A 2000 Reconceptualising Politics: Concepts of Politics in Modern Greek Political Culture Paper for ECPR Joint Sessions, Workshop on 'The History of Political Concepts: A New Perspective on European Political Cultures', Copenhagen, 14–19 April. Forthcoming in book form in Greek [Google Scholar]).