Most of the scholarship on the recent sovereign debt crisis in Greece has been produced by observers outside of Greece. This book brings together the work of three noted specialists on Greek domestic political economy: Lavdas, and Litsas and Skiadas. Together, the chapters offer analysis of the Greek crisis from eclectic points of view that integrate disparate theories. Making extensive use of available data, the authors examine root causes of the crisis. The book provides ample details on the role of international and domestic institutions in defining and offering solutions for the sovereign debt crisis. From the perspective of the authors, if Greece is to remain in the EU as well as remain engaged in the global economy, its domestic institutions need to be modernized and reformed. The empirical and policy analysis offered here will be of interest to scholars of the EU, as the evidence presented reveals how the deepening of integration in Europe is not a simple, linear process. Moreover, efforts to integrate Greece, and by extension other economies, are limited by the structure of and effectiveness of domestic institutions. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections.

Choice Reviews

Most analysts have addressed the euro crisis as an economic issue. Yet everyone concedes that its most important causes, consequences, and remedies are essentially political. This is one of the first books that addresses the deeper political significance of the crisis, focusing primarily on Europe's troubled relationship with Greece and highlighting the ways in which southern European political systems, societies, and economies have long functioned according to fundamentally different rules from those followed elsewhere in Europe.

Foreign Affairs

[T]his is an informative, passionate account of the Greek crisis in its European setting. Students of European politics will find a lot of interesting material in this scholarly book.

Journal of Contemporary European Studies

[This book] is a ground-breaking attempt to examine the crisis in the Eurozone's southern region. . . .The book offers a particularly detailed, balanced but deeply engaged account of the acute Greek crisis in its evolving European setting. . . .By examining the particular and the general, by filling the analysis with details as well as with broad strokes, the book has become an indispensable guide to the academic approach to an adventure that will mark these countries -- and the European project as a whole -- for years to come. It should be read by students, scholars and practitioners concerned with the critical questions of European politics and political economy, sovereignty, democratic options and policy choices.

Journal of Economic and Social Thought

This is a timely, well-written and innovative reflection on the implications of the European economic crisis on the adaptability of the domestic state. It should be read by students and scholars concerned with the big questions of sovereignty, democratic politics, policy model and choice. And it is very much on target with its plea for extensive liberalisation in Greece, cushioned with a respect for sovereign choices.

Kevin Featherstone, Eleftherios Venizelos Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor of European Politics, London School of Economics and Political Science