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Greek Social Issues 1-2013: “The use of the bicycle in Greece, 2012”

In 2012, the 3.1% of Greek people stated that they use the bicycle for their daily transportation, to and from work or school, for shopping or entertainment. Cyclists are mostly men (4%), especially unmarried and in general, young people of 18 and 24 years old (7%), but significant percentage of use is also observed in the middle age groups, e.g. in the category of 45-54 years old (5%).

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Public opinion polls and elections 2012

 The parliamentary election in May 2012 and the repeat election in June provided a challenge for Greek public opinion polls. Apart from the impressions created, the problems that arose are numerous. It is more than likely that these problems will continue and perhaps even intensify. The phenomenon of the growing and largely unforeseen rate of abstention, along with “spiral of silence” effect, in various forms will in the future limit the predictive power of Greek public opinion polls.

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Elections of 17 June – the right and the wrong

The result of the 17 June election was in no way certain from the outset. On the contrary, the outcome of the contest remained open until the last moment. Indeed, as it turned out, the most recent pre-election period showed the greatest historically observed momentum ever and was clearly stronger than the corresponding impetus seen in May.

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The elections of 6 May 2012 and the end of the Greek two-party system

Without a doubt, the parliamentary elections of 6 May signal a radical change in the contemporary political and electoral history of Greece. The popular verdict formalizes the collapse of the party system that was formed during the Third Hellenic Republic. The consolidation of the institutional operation of two-partyism resulted in the alternation in power of the dominant two parties five times since the restoration of democracy (1981, 1990, 1993, 2004 and 2009).

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The new Greek government

The new coalition government of premier Loukas Papademos obtained 255 votes out of a total of 300. This majority is probably not as strong as it looks. It is a well established fact that the power of a government does not primarily depend on its numerical majority. Greece’s only previous coalition government (under PM Tzanetakis) lasted only 102 days, while the “all party” government under PM Zolotas only 139 days. This axiom still applies today.

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