There is a recent rise of interest in understanding the long-term roots of political cleavages and their effect on growth outcomes and individual level attitudes.
In this seminar, Dr George Melios will be presenting his paper (with Vassilis Logothetis, University of Ioannina), where they argue that there was a strong link between Cold War tensions and the development of political institutions across countries involved. They focus on the case of Greece and employ an instrumental variable approach using the variation in clandestine radio broadcasting signals, to examine electoral success in the 1958 elections and the they show a causal link between communist propaganda through radio broadcasting and electoral violence in the 1961 elections. They then use contemporary surveys to quantify the lasting effect of violence on political trust and social capital. Their findings contribute to understanding the complex legacy of civil conflict on political and economic landscapes, demonstrating how violence and electoral oppression can cause polarisation and have enduring impacts on democratic processes and social trust.
Meet our speaker and chair
George Melios is a research fellow at the Department of Psychological & Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and a Research Advisor at Gallup. His research spans the intersection of political economy, behavioural science, and public policy. He specializes in using microeconometrics (quasi-experimental) and experimental methods on large, naturally occurring datasets. His aim is to understand how people's beliefs influence their behaviors.His work has been published in outlets such as the Journal of Politics and Political Behavior and covered in media such as in The Economist, The Nation, The Daily Caller as well as To Vima and Kathimerini (in Greek).
Kevin Featherstone, Hellenic Observatory Director and Professorial Research Fellow, European Institute, LSE
The twitter Hashtag for this event is: #LSEGreece
Podcast
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The Hellenic Observatory (@HO_LSE) is internationally recognised as one of the premier research centres on contemporary Greece and Cyprus. It engages in a range of activities, including developing and supporting academic and policy-related research; organisation of conferences, seminars and workshops; academic exchange through visiting fellowships and internships; as well as teaching at the graduate level through LSE's European Institute.
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