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Greece must rank as the most centralized state within the European Community. Politically, there is no alternative power source capable of challenging central government. Other directly elected institutions exist only at the local level and are weak, fragmented and constitutionally subject to government tutelage. 1 Within the public administration system, the over-concentration of decision-making in Athens has been notorious, with even the most trivial details frequently referred from the bureaucracy to the political hierarchy for a ministerial decision. The new needs of European Community membership have thrown the deficiencies of the system into sharp relief. In particular, the difficulties encountered by the over-centralized bureaucracy in planning and implementing regional development programmes were eloquently expressed by the former Director of KEPE, the state Centre for Planning and Economic Research …