It is widely accepted that sustainable regional development can only be achieved if the concept of sustainability is strongly connected with innovation and improvement of regional governance. This task is extremely important yet demanding as long as several policy levels and areas are...

The South European countries have been extensively affected by the financial crisis which is followed by austerity measures and public expenditure restraint, especially for social policies. It is well-known that in the countries that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has become the financial...

During the years preceding the financial and fiscal crisis, Greece's welfare state had been mainly extending provisions in order to serve the political patronage system built after regime change in 1974. This system reached its limits as the number of active insurance contributions given by the...

There have been almost 40 years after the restoration of democracy in Greece and a peculiar prosperity, which was consciously cultivated by the leaders of political and economic elites, was promoted before the onset of the financial crisis. However, from the beginning of the financial recession,...

During the last three decades the basic neoliberal positions remain dominant and comprise the main directions for policy-making in the majority of advanced countries. The central pillars of neoliberalism are the market and the individual, while the basic neoliberal objective is “the retreat of...

Admittedly, the balance of power within the European institutions, especially those related to financial stability and economic policy, is controlled by Germany. The German Federal Republic as the "main creditor" controls the Eurogroup, the Euro Working Group and has privileged relations with...

Financial crisis has connected Europe with an obvious common pattern which consists the rapidly rise of protest parties that challenge the established political systems. The basic and new feature of these schemes is the intense war rhetoric against the European Union and the vehement rejection...

Greek Abstract: Ο ορισμός του κράτους πρόνοιας ασφαλώς δεν αποτελεί απλή υπόθεση από την στιγμή που στην έγκυρη επιστημονική βιβλιογραφία υπάρχουν πολυποίκιλοι...

There have been almost 40 years after the restoration of democracy in Greece and a peculiar prosperity, which was consciously cultivated by the leaders of political and economic elites, was promoted before the onset of the financial crisis. However, from the beginning of the financial recession,...

German Abstract: Die Definition des Wohlfahrtsstaates ist keineswegs eine einfache Aufgabe. Wahrhaft existieren vielfältige Definitionsbemühungen , die versuchen, zumindest einige der grundlegenden Merkmale des Wohlfahrtsstaates oder seiner Ziele und Funktionen widerzuspiegeln. Für einige...