Can the emergence of the civil society in Greece substitute the lack of confidence in representative institutions and contribute to a better quality of democracy and governance in a period of crisis?

The unprecedented economic crisis in Greece highlighted in an elegant way the crisis of the political system. The main characteristic of this crisis is lack of confidence in representative institutions.The aim of this essay is to examine the civil society’s response to the crisis and the different forms, which were taken by civic activism. It also presents whether the different responses of the civil society in the period 2010-2013 were compatible with liberal democracy. Finally, the main question that is discussed is whether civil society mobilization can contribute to the deepening of democracy and social cohesion, to the reduction of the distance in citizen – policy relations and to a better quality of democracy and governance.