Democracy, with all its enormous benefits and unsettling drawbacks, was born in Greece. The least worst of government systems, as Winston Churchill categorised it, democracy has been the foundation of stable, peaceful, independent and economically-thriving nations.
In some cases, though, the power of the ballot box can push leaders into dog-whistle decisions: electorally popular but usually wilfully short-sighted and potentially damaging. Turkeys don't vote for Christmas. Financially struggling voters don't vote for politicians who promise more austerity, more cuts, on-going penury.
Greece, in recent months, has exemplified the best and worst of democracy. Fed up with bleak austerity measures, in January this year Greeks turfed their government, and, with it, the prospect of yet more of the cuts and reforms thought necessary to haul the benighted nation out of the red.
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