A growing share of Greeks say they would welcome a ‘strong leader’ who governs without needing approval from Parliament, according to new survey results from Greece that mark one of the sharper shifts in political attitudes recorded in the country in nearly a decade.
The World Values Survey found that the share of respondents who view the idea favorably rose to 17.7% this year, up 8.7 percentage points from 2017, when the figure stood at about 9%. That means support for the concept has nearly doubled in eight years.
The shift was not an isolated one. Backing for a military government also climbed, reaching 14.5%, up 8.7 points from 2017. Support for letting technocrats make decisions instead of elected officials rose too, to 25.5%, an increase of 5.4 points.
Greece shows rising appeal for a ‘strong leader’ without parliament
Still, most Greeks say they value democratic governance. Nine in ten respondents described democracy as a very good or fairly good way to run a country, and citizens rated the importance of living in a democracy at 8.8 out of 10.
That overall approval, however, has slipped seven points since 2017, with a sharper decline among younger adults. Only 83% of respondents aged 18 to 35 called democracy a good system, about 14 points below the general population’s rating eight years earlier.
Researchers linked the trend to broader dissatisfaction with the political system, which Greeks rated just 4.2 out of 10 for satisfaction, and to widespread perceptions of corruption, rated 8.1 out of 10.
Nearly six in ten respondents said they felt excluded from decision-making, saying the political system gives people like them little or no influence over government actions.
Behind the numbers: How Greece’s values survey was conducted
The survey was conducted by diaNEOsis with the National Centre for Social Research, known as EKKE. Sokratis Koniordos, a sociology professor at the University of the Peloponnese, oversaw the questionnaire design, while Vasiliki Georgiadou, a political science professor at Panteion University and EKKE president, helped coordinate the research.
MRB Hellas carried out fieldwork, gathering responses from 1,200 people through in-person and online interviews between March 17 and April 2, 2025.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
