The percentage of voters who say they prefer coalition governments is currently just over 50%, while in the recent past (during coalition governments when voters identified with their party’s position) it was even higher. However, although partnership as a concept generally has a positive connotation, reality shows that in domestic political and electoral history it does not particularly flourish.

Throughout time, the Greek political system has been considered one of the most bipolar in international terms, despite the fact that it is not characterized by a majoritarian system of representation. It has elements of a solid bipartisanship, with the main poles changing or renaming from time to time, without changing, however, their basic architecture. Even when some electoral contests showed phenomena of fragmentation (for example, in the early 1950s or in May 2012), the restoration of a new (albeit milder, as today) bipartisanship was immediate. There are many reasons, let’s focus on three.

First, for more than a century, the political landscape has been shaped by periods based on deep and charged divisions of intersections or events. National division (state), civil war, junta, economic crisis, etc. Thus, broad factions and alliances were formed around the central stakes, which did not leave room for formations with special characteristics (for example, environmental parties or parties with a local or ethnic bias, etc.) to flourish, as happened in other countries.

Second, the nature of the parties. In large parties, due to their diversity, any rapprochement and collaboration took place informally within them. Liberals, (Ultra)Conservatives in N.D. Traditional social democrats, third party socialists, E.A. Mogens, inside the old PASOK. Left renewals, voters of the old PASOK, ex-communists, radical layers of the economic crisis within SYRIZA. The ability of all “flowers” to bloom in one large party “garden” reduced the need to create separate party formations and strengthened the bipolarity of the Greek political system.

Thirdly, the particular intensity of Greek political life. Historical accusations, rhetorical poignancy, and bigotry hindered the development of a collaborative culture and reinforced the polarizing nature of the political landscape. And the short-lived cooperation of governments, especially in the period before the economic crisis, was seen mostly as a necessary – and not always positive – parenthesis, rather than a conscious choice. And smaller partners as a parliamentary complement, not as major co-creators of policy.

Indeed, there is the following paradox: parties that support a simple proportional system – a system that creates the need for cooperation in the first place – in practice do exactly the opposite. The KKE, for example, while firmly in favor of simple proportionality, rejects any cooperation from the government. And SYRIZA, which voted for a simple proportional system, became politicized (especially during the years of its rise, but also after) in a particularly divisive way and with great harshness in its public speeches.

However, there is a second paradox. While the percentage of those who say they want cooperative governments is high, the reality seems to be “punishing” the parties that participate in them.

Starting with the elders, both N.D. (2015) and SYRIZA (2019) lost elections after ruling through cooperation schemes. As for the small partners, the fate of all was common. LAOS was expelled from Parliament after participating in the government of Papademos. DIMAR was dissolved after his participation and despite his departure from the government of Samara. ANEL degenerated after collaborating with SYRIZA. In 2015, PASOK recorded the lowest percentages in its history following government cooperation with ND. in the period 2011-2014

Each case is, of course, individual, and each result has its own explanation. The question, however, remains: if those who favor partnerships considered the corresponding project to be high, then for some reason, at some point, will those who implement it not be rewarded? The reality itself shows that even if the public partnership as a concept is perceived positively, its weight as a factor influencing the vote is limited.

Elections are judged over time by the dynamics of central political dilemmas. The general feeling of the country’s course, the comparison of the main characters, the subjective feeling of each voter about their own prospects, the inclination or non-punishment of the one who rules. Hence the related clichés: that the Greeks vote with their pockets. That they do not vote, but “blacken”. Not a word about whether they cooperate, however …

Mr. Eftichis Vardoulakis is a strategy and communications consultant.