Unit:
Deparment of Political Science & Public AdministrationLibrary of the Faculties of Political Science and Public Administration, Communication and Mass Media Studies, Turkish and Modern Asian Studies, Sociology
Author:
Zarifis Panagiotis
Dissertation committee:
1. Γεώργιος Σωτηρέλης, καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης, ΕΚΠΑ.
2. Ιωάννης Τασόπουλος, καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης, ΕΚΠΑ.
3. Νικόλαος-Κομνηνός Χλέπας, αναπληρωτής καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης, ΕΚΠΑ.
4. Χαράλαμπος Χρυσανθάκης, καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης, ΕΚΠΑ.
5. Σπυρίδων Βλαχόπουλος, καθηγητής, Τμήμα Νομικής, ΕΚΠΑ.
6. Δημήτριος Χριστόπουλος, καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Ιστορίας, Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο.
7. Ανδρέας Τάκης, επίκουρος καθηγητής, Τομέας Ιστορίας, Φιλοσοφίας και Κοινωνιολογίας του Δικαίου, Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης.
Original Title:
Υπηκοότητα, ιθαγένεια, ιδιότητα του πολίτη στην Ελλάδα
Translated title:
Subjecthood, nationality, citizenship in Greece
Summary:
The evolution of the institution of citizenship in Greece has been spectacular from 1974 to the present. The Third Hellenic Republic inherited both in terms of legislation and at the administrative level an institution phobic or even hostile to otherness, an institution mainly functioning as a mechanism of exclusion, in an environment of arbitrariness. Large sections of the Greek population had been deprived of citizenship, while citizens of different ethnic and/or cultural backgrounds were seen as potentially the enemy within.
The fall of the 1967 to 1974 Dictatorship has been followed by significant achievements in the field of nationality as well. In record time, the citizenship of those persecuted by the Dictatorship was restored, followed by the 1975 Constitution, which protects citizens against arbitrary loss of their status. The Roma population joined effectively and quickly the citizens' corps. The refugees of the Greek Civil War (1945-1949) were re-incorporated in the body-politique, at the exception of those of “non-greek origin” (“allogeneis”). The principle of gender equality was established in this field as well, while successive legislative and administrative initiatives were taken to integrate homecoming expatriates from Albania, Turkey and the former USSR. Administratively, however, the granting or non-granting of citizenship has remained a "government act": no deadlines, no justification, no chance of mounting a legal challenge and undergoing a judicial review.
The turning point was the transformation of Greece into a destination country for massive numbers of immigrants, who became permanent residents, raising the issue of their admission or not to the country's political community. The absolute dominance of the law of blood (jus sanguinis) has been challenged and the importance of the place of birth (jus soli), or, better, the place of residence (jus domicilii) has been highlighted. A network of individuals, administrators, active citizens, journalists, etc. has slowly created the conditions for citizenship to become a matter of public debate. Ultimately, in 2010, substantial measures were introduced in order to reform citizenship in a more inclusive direction and, more importantly, to apply in all relevant procedures the principle of the rule of law.
Despite the regressions caused by the judicial overthrow of Law 3838/2010, the institution of citizenship in Greece is firmly oriented towards the inclusion of both persons of Greek national origin and foreigners who have a lifelong relationship with Greece. However, the issue polarizes Greek society at the level of political parties, at the level of ideology and everyday life, and this polarization does not foreshadow the best of prospects for the future.
Main subject category:
Social, Political and Economic sciences
Keywords:
Citizenship, Greek citizenship, immigration, Greek Roma, political refugees, expatriates, foreigners, loss of citizenship, citizenship restitution, naturalization
Number of references:
532
