Dissertation committee:
Ηλίας Νικολακόπουλος, Ομότιμος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Χρήστος Λυριντζής, Ομότιμος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.,
Ιωάννης Τσίρμπας, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.,
Παναγιώτης Παναγιωτόπουλος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.,
Ιωάννης Καραγιάννης, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης Πανεπιστημίου Κρήτης,
Ευτυχία Τεπερόγλου, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης Α.Π.Θ.,
Ευθύμιος Παπαβλασόπουλος, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης Πανεπιστημίου Κρήτης.
Summary:
This doctoral thesis attempts to investigate the diachronic evolution of the electoral behavior of Argolida in the period 1974-2009, how it reflects the diachronic phenomenon of the predominance of the conservative faction, the course and evolution of the political staff, mainly of the two major parties, and the possible connection both with the administrative and geographical division of the prefecture into provinces and with the degree of urbanity of the areas, the customer relations and the customer networks, always in combination with the electoral tradition of the prefecture, where the N.D. emerged as the first party in all the electoral contests of the period under consideration, regardless of the results in the whole territory of the respective parliamentary elections, in combination with the fact that it is one of the three prefectures that present this phenomenon, to emerge as the first party in the same, whatever it is, in all the electoral contests of the specific period, regardless of the result in the whole country.
The period 1974-2009 is chosen by the post-government period for the following reasons:
• It is considered a sufficient period of time for study in the context of a doctoral dissertation.
• The 2009 elections marked the end of the bipartisanship of the ND-PA.SOK, which dominated and marked the entire post-government period, and there are many researchers who spoke about the end of the post-regime, since In the immediately following electoral contest, in May 2012, there was a radicalization of the electorate, a fragmentation of the party system, a change in the stakes of the elections, with the consequence of the change of the dipole from N.D.-PA.SOK. in N.D.-Coalition of the Radical Left (SY.RIZ.A.), in combination with the emergence of the economic crisis and its unpleasant results for the Greeks.
• The different numbering of the constituencies of the prefecture from election to election, due to the changes in the map of local government, makes it difficult to match the constituencies and therefore the study and analysis of election results in subsequent electoral contests.
• The advantage that the specific period gives for the study of the political staff both for ND and for PA.SO.K., where reports and comparisons need to be made, since both parties appear with stable representations for long periods of time.
• It is the period when the seats of the prefecture are distributed in each electoral contest between the two major parties, while from the elections of May 2012 the "haircut" of the representation of the prefecture began.
• During this period it is possible to study the N.D. both in elections that it wins and in elections that it loses in the whole country, in order to be able to compare and draw conclusions in relation to Argolida, which has a different electoral behavior, also showing a timeless electoral stability.
To clarify that in a country like Greece, the historical-political origins of a geographical area play a serious role in shaping the electoral behavior of its inhabitants. So when it comes to the electoral tradition of a prefecture, it is mainly related to the two main divisions of the 20th century: the National Divide and the Civil War and the attitude held by the majority of the electorate in this area in these two political controversies. Certainly no one can claim in advance that these two divisive sections have consolidated and shaped the electoral behavior of this area in the post-political period. On the contrary, it could be argued that the ongoing process of transformation of political parties, especially within them, has led to the overcoming of these divisions and their limitation within each political family. Nevertheless, it cannot be completely ruled out that a large part of the electorate of a local community would vote or still vote today, even as an unconscious choice, based on these criteria.
The sequence that followed begins with the analysis of the theoretical and methodological tools used. This is followed by an extensive historical review of the electoral process and the political representation of Argolida from the National Assemblies to the dictatorship, which was deemed necessary to understand the electoral tradition, as an important parameter of the electoral behavior of the prefecture, in conjunction with the political context. Passing into the period under consideration, a detailed presentation of each electoral contest from 1974 to 2009 is made, with references to the general political context of the time. Then follows the presentation and analysis of the election results in the territory and in the prefecture, with special reference to the percentages of the two major parties, in the sum of the bipartisanship, of the left where there were remarkable findings, but and the wider conservative area, in relation to both the territory and the dictatorial results of the prefecture, where this was deemed necessary. At the level of the political staff, the combinations of N.D. are presented in detail. of PA.SO.K. and which candidates from the other parties deserved to be mentioned and finally reference is made to various statistics in relation to the administrative and geographical distribution of the influence of the two major parties and their candidates in the provinces and regions based on the degree of urbanity. Then follows the chapter with comparative statistics and indicators between the thirteen electoral contests, which helped to draw more complete conclusions, which are presented in the last chapter trying to explain the reasons that shaped the electoral behavior and electoral stability of Argolida. The whole dissertation was supported by a detailed appendix of tables, which aimed at a better presentation and understanding of the election data, in order to investigate the original working hypothesis.
