Between the Hammer and the Anvil The Impact of the Eurozone Crisis on the Legitimacy and Autonomy of the Hellenic Parliament Dr. Emmanuel Sigalas Carleton University emmanuelsigalas@gmail.com ABSTRACT The European Sovereign Debt Crisis affected Greece more than any other EU country. While much of the attention has focused on economics, the political crisis in Greece is at least as important, and it goes beyond the collapse of the party system or the rise of a neo- fascist party. I argue that the unpopular policies resulting from the troika’s (ECB, IMF, Commission) demands had a double impact on parliamentary democracy in Greece, albeit indirectly. Firstly, the legitimacy of the Greek parliament has been put into question and, secondly, its autonomy has been undermined. Drawing on survey data, personal interviews and legislative output data, I demonstrate that the Hellenic Parliament has been under pressure from two sides: the citizens and the government. Suffering from a number of pre- existing maladies, the economic crisis resulted in a parliament that is weaker and consequently even more irrelevant than before. With public trust at an all time low and an economy deep into recession, it is doubtful if parliamentary democracy in Greece can survive another major shock.