Rousfeti
As Rousfeti [ /ɾu.ˈsfɛ.ti/ ] ( Greek ρουσφέτι ), in the plural Rousfetia ( ρουσφέτια ), one describes the gift of clientelistic favors in the political culture of Greece .
history
The origin of the word from the Turkish rüşvet - in turn from Arabic رشوة rişwat - also shows the origin of these "favors" from the time when the Greeks belonged to the Ottoman Empire . After the destruction of the oligarchy of the Byzantine Empire , thelocal village mayors, known as Muhtare , became the new ruling class in Greece . In this Muhtar system , which iswidespread throughout the Orient , the village mayors were on the one hand representatives of the Ottoman Empire on site and received money for it, and on the other hand protectors of the local population. Success and failure on the ground were personally attributed to the Muhtars on the part of the government. If they were successful, they received money, which they in turn could lend to the population (often at exorbitant interest). Clientelisticnetworks developedfrom the cross-linking of the muchtars among themselves during the Greek Wars of Liberation .
After Greek independence in 1828, these clientelist networks used the existing structures to continue to pass on benefits stolen from the state or otherwise received in the form of rousfetia to their clientele. These benefits consisted of political favors such as civil servants or cash benefits. In return, the former Muhtare and now patrons expected their clientele to vote for them in political elections. The Muhtar system had been adapted under the new auspices of political independence and made politically fruitful.
Until the end of the 20th century, political conflicts within the Greek parties ( ERE / Nea Dimokratia , Enosis Kendrou and later PASOK ) were seldom seen as programmatic conflicts that could be resolved through discussion, as the Greek parties as a whole were far less programmatic than programmatic parties are to be regarded as clientelistic pyramids . The rousfeti took the place of the programmatic and ideological discussion : the clientele voted for their patron in expectation of a rousfeti , conversely they left the party if the promised rousfetia had not occurred .
Economic evaluation
The troika consisting of rousfeti, Fakelaki and the 4-4-2 system , the reduction of the tax liability by 80% by paying 50% of the evaded tax amount to the responsible tax officials, is in the international press as one of the main problems of Greece in building a modern state administration discussed, especially since the Greek sovereign debt crisis .
literature
- Theodore C. Kariotis : The Greek Socialist Experiment: Papandreou's Greece, 1981-1989. Pella 1992, ISBN 978-0-918618-48-1 , pp. 53-57.
- Heinz A. Richter : Athenian clientelism. In: Lettre International 96, 2012, p. 25 ff.
- Heinz A. Richter: Between tradition and modernity. In: Peter Reichel (Ed.): Political Culture in Western Europe. Frankfurt am Main 1984, p. 147.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Heinz A. Richter: Political Culture in Greece , Federal Agency for Political Education , 23 August 2012.
- ↑ Ben Schott: Fakelaki, Rousfeti and the 4-4-2 System , The New York Times, April 27, 2010.
- ↑ Elena Panagiotidis: Tax evasion in Greece - A lonely fight against windmills , Neue Zürcher Zeitung of July 16, 2012.