GREECE: Fresh Try at Democracy

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Out of Politics. New President Tsatsos, who drafted much of the document, explains that "it is a Greek constitution. It provides flexibility for our psychological dispositions. If a government receives a vote of confidence, there will be no more votes of confidence for six months so that Parliament can tend to its business." As for the power to dissolve Parliament, Tsatsos argues, "the people are the check. If the President misuses his power and cannot win a majority in the election he must call, he will be out of politics."

Like any blueprint for government, the viability of the new Greek constitution will depend heavily on those who enforce it. In that regard, Athens Publisher Helen Vlachos, who returned last year from a self-imposed exile during the colonels' dictatorship to revive her prestigious daily Kathimerini, is confident that it will work. Says Vlachos: "I know the people who drafted it. They are responsible, intelligent, dedicated Greeks. I trust them. Therefore I trust it."