Redrawing Immigration Policy in Greece : A Case Study of the Ramifications of Populism for Liberal Democracy

Sammanfattning: Ahead of the 2023 Greek legislative election and given the emerging political landscape, this paper focuses on how the immigration policy shift of the center-right government emerged from 2019 elections has affected the state of liberal democracy in the country. For that purpose, a case study was employed, based on data extracted from immigration policy reports and governing party’s manifestos. This thesis is relying on theories on the relationship between populism, immigration, and liberal democracies. Applying a theory-confirming case study through a qualitative content analysis facilitates researcher to explore how the immigration policy shift and anti-immigrant populism in Greece challenge the political system’s commitment to liberal democracy since 2019. Examining the case of how populist tendencies crept into immigration politics in Greece, the study tries to contribute to the discussion on how populism influences liberal democracies. The normative assessment of this case in a deductive way contributes to the investigation in a given theoretical framework. The thematic analysis suggests that certain aspects of liberal democracy can be challenged by the populist immigration policy shift in Greece.