In Greece, there are three levels of government including municipalities, regions and decentralized administrations (Dubin and Kydoniefs 10). The municipal government has numerous powers including the power to adopt rules and regulations, power to collect charges and fees, and the power to acquire real and personal property. Municipalities have the power to manage and regulate all local matters to ensure sustainable development. A governor is the head of an administrative region in Greece. Some of the powers of regions include shaping, planning, and implementing policies at regional level. The third level of government is decentralized administrations which have powers to exercise general decisive responsibility on state matters. Greece has a civil service that hires employees to manage the daily administration of the state (OECD 70). The civil service has formal procedures and regulations that define the work of various state employees. Therefore, the civil service hires state employees within the confines of these formal procedures and regulations (Peters and Pierre 257).
Greece uses the civil law system where judges dominate trials. Furthermore, there is a high degree of judicial independence. The judiciary is separate from the executive and judicial arms of the government. The state has a Supreme Special Court that acts as its constitutional court (Schelle and Schelleová 15). The Supreme Special Court performs concrete judicial review to determine whether an act of the legislature or the executive violates the Greece Constitution (Featherstone 107).
The president is the head of state while the prime minister is the head of government. The president has the power to appoint the Prime Minister according to the provisions of the constitution. He or she is also the nominal Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. On the other hand, the prime minister has powers to oversee government affairs. In Greece, the parliament supervises the actions of the executive to ensure that the state represents the best interests of the citizens. There is no executive dominance over the legislature because there are independent officials who limit executive powers. MPs can introduce private bills, which can pass depending on the votes (Buckler and Beck 25). The MPs can also amend government bills with a 50 percent plus one majority vote in the Hellenic parliament. The parliamentary Scientific Agency submits the proposal to the parliament for voting. The amendment becomes part of the state constitution as soon as 50 percent plus one of the members of parliament favors the amendment (Koliopoulos and Veremis 12).
Works Cited
Buckler, John and Beck, Hans. Central Greece and the Politics of Power in the Fourth Century BC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=bn5Nz5yjGUIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+politics+of+Greece&hl=en&sa=X&ei=M7veUpGwMYK0yAOiuYHQCQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the%20politics%20of%20Greece&f=false on 21 Jan. 2014.
Dubin, Mark and Kydoniefs, Frank. Greece. New Holland Publishers, 2005. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=cKbjunuEnC0C&pg=PA10&dq=levels+of+government+in+Greece&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OrneUv3AKOWxywPt0oD4Cg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=levels%20of%20government%20in%20Greece&f=false on 21 Jan. 2014.
Featherstone, Kevin. Politics and Policy in Greece: The Challenge of Modernization. Chicago: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=_WEqNHp5m-UC&pg=PA106&dq=civil+service+in+greece&hl=en&sa=X&ei=l7XeUvDpMseYyAP15oDIBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=civil%20service%20in%20greece&f=false on 21 Jan. 2014.
Koliopoulos, John and Veremis, Thanos. Modern Greece: A History since 1821. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=qumwwKbI0TQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+politics+of+Greece&hl=en&sa=X&ei=abveUu2hIIvKywP8q4AQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the%20politics%20of%20Greece&f=false on 21 Jan. 2014.
OECD. Greece: Review of the Central Administration. New York: OECD Publishing, 2011. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=N8zBwffeWO8C&pg=PA70&dq=civil+service+in+greece&hl=en&sa=X&ei=l7XeUvDpMseYyAP15oDIBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=civil%20service%20in%20greece&f=false on 21 Jan. 2014.
Peters, Guy and Pierre, Jon. The Politicization of the Civil Service in Comparative Perspective: A Quest for Control. New York: Psychology Press, 2004. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=SKg-HEuZi1IC&pg=PA257&dq=civil+service+in+greece&hl=en&sa=X&ei=l7XeUvDpMseYyAP15oDIBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=civil%20service%20in%20greece&f=false on 21 Jan. 2014.
Schelle, Karel and Schelleová, Ilona. History and Present of Judiciary. New York: GRIN Verlag, 2009. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=VLhuFH-lMqgC&pg=PA15&dq=the+Greece+Judiciary&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ULreUpuoGvSGyQOEuIGgCg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the%20Greece%20Judiciary&f=false on 21 Jan. 2014.
