Protecting the protected: The Greek agricultural policy network∗

Abstract

Abstract This article employs the concept of policy networks to examine a major area of policy‐making and provide fresh insights into Greek politics. It questions the extent to which policy‐making in the Greek agricultural sector can be usefully typified as pluralist or corporatist. The authors conclude that the weakness and vulnerability of the state to the demands of the co‐operatives, in particular, suggests that the sectoral corporatist model understates the level of mutual dependency. The rhetoric of clientelism disguises the reality that the government no longer occupies a clearly superior position in the network but shares policy‐making powers with other societal institutions.