Liberal democracy

A commemorative year draws to a close in an ideal way for honoring the anniversary of the establishment of the Third Hellenic Republic, by resolving one final footnote of history: the administrative matter of restoring Greek citizenship to the former royal family.

A recent survey reveals that nearly one-third of Bulgarians are inclined towards authoritarian governance, including communism or military rule. The study, conducted by Alfa Research for the Foundation for Humanitarian and Social Research - Sofia, highlights a significant divide between urban and rural sentiments.

The day when same-sex civil marriage and gay couples' right to be treated equally as parents are recognized by the Greek state will be historic. Greece will finally be among the countries that do not discriminate against their citizens on the basis of sexual orientation. The truth is that our country was very late in abolishing unfair, immoral and irrational discrimination.

In political developments, we often focus on internal party ramifications or even personal quarrels, ignoring the big picture.

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with them, it is important that the people who have been responsible for the country's fate should speak publicly about what was and what is. For years now, mature Western democracies have had a special place reserved for politicians who have served as prime minister or in some other high-ranking position.

Since 1992, Francis Fukuyama has often been called upon to explain how his prediction of the definitive dominance of the liberal democracy model after the fall of communism has been tested by events - by the internal convulsions in Western democracies and by the apparent success of authoritarian regimes such as China. But his theory has never lost its appeal.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis insisted Tuesday that Greece will be able to regain investment grade with a strong New Democracy government and that his "his victory over populism in Greece" serves as a lesson "for other liberal democracies."

"If you deliver real change for people, people will reward you," he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

Greece has made the right choice to encourage the European orientation of its Balkan neighbors, based on the assessment that the prospect of their integration also functions as a guarantee of peace. 

Modern liberal democracy can easily become phobic, but is hesitant to act as a militant democracy. It is anxious and fearful about election results in several Western countries - e.g. the recent congressional midterm elections - where the choices of the electorate may call into question the very values of liberal democracy.

Fukuyama, an American philosopher of Japanese origin, is also known for his book "The End of History and the Last Man", which he published in the early nineties, in which he argued that the progression of human history as a struggle between ideologies was largely at an end, with the world settling on liberal democracy after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.