Costas Simitis

Abstract

The chapter seeks to analyse and assess Costas Simitis’s leadership and management style, which it conceptualizes as the product of three structural parameters. First, Simitis’s status, throughout his career in Greek politics, as a minority within PASOK, the party he helped co-found, and his clear refusal to identify with the values of the ‘underdog’ cultural tradition, to which the majority of the party and, indeed, Greek society adhered. Second, his steadfast adherence to the principles of the minoritarian reformist cultural tradition, which identifies deeply with the values of the European Enlightenment and of European liberalism, and his privileging a positive sum conceptualization of politics, a decided preference for the search for dialogue, rational argument, consensus, and compromise, as well as a strong commitment to the primacy of the rule of law and for institution-building. Third, the search for a paradigm shift in the modus operandi of the Greek political system, such that would make these values guiding principles of the logic informing Greek democracy and enable it to align itself more firmly with the traditions of European social democracy. The chapter concludes by identifying five major legacies linked to Simitis’s leadership and management style as prime minister: (a) first and foremost, securing Greece’s entry into the eurozone, (b) introducing an alternative approach to Greek politics; (c) emphasizing institution building; (d) privileging civility and fairness in interacting with colleagues and opponents alike; and (e) demonstrating the importance of human agency in the conduct of politics.