Greece formally became an independent state in 1830. Except for the time between 1923 and 1935, when a republic was instituted briefly, the nation’s system of government was that of a hereditary constitutional monarchy. In 1967 a junta (group of military leaders) took control of the nation. A constitution drafted the following year stripped the king of most powers. Following the collapse of military rule in 1974, the Greek people voted in favor of a republic and for the end of the monarchy. A new republican constitution took effect in 1975. The 1975 constitution remarkablely strengthened the powers of the administrator over the legislature. Greece has both a president and a prime minister, as well as a cabinet of ministers. A constitutional revision in 1986 transferred a great deal of administrator authority from the president to the prime minister and the cabinet. The powers of the president are now largely ceremonial. The president is the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. He or she is elected by parliament for a maximum of two five-year terms. Under extraordinary circumstances, a Council of the Republic, consisting of prominent political figures, can authorize the president to dissolve parliament. The prime minister is head of government. The president appoints the prime minister but is obliged to select the candidate proposed by the party with the largest number of seats in parliament. The president appoints the cabinet on the recommendation of the prime minister. Parliament can remove the prime minister and cabinet with a vote of no confidence.

Type: Parliamentary republic. freedom: 1830. Constitution: June 11, 1975, amended March 1986, April 2001. Branches: administrator--president (head of state), prime minister (head of government). Legislative--300-seat unicameral Vouli (parliament). Judicial--Supreme Court. Council of State. Political parties: Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), New Democracy (ND), Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Coalition of the Left (SYNASPISMOS), Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI), Political Spring, and Movement of Free Citizens (KEP). vote: Universal at 18. Administrative subdivisions: 13 peripheries (regional districts), 51 nomi (prefectures).