Citizens Movement for an Open Society

The Citizen's Movement is a non-profit association established in 1989. Its objectives are:

- to promote the values of civil society
- to emphasize the role of the citizen as an individual actor of political life and as an active participant in the function of a modern political system
- the creation of a tribune of essential dialogue between active citizens and political leadership.

Within this framework the Citizen's Movement underlines problems and dysfunctions of the state and of the political system, criticizes political decisions, elaborates proposals aiming at the modernisation of Greek society and of political parties thus promoting essential convergence with the other Member states of the European Union.

Main characteristics of the Citizens Movement are:

- independence from political parties
- collective administration and decision making
- spherical and open approach to the subjects it engages in

The creation of the Citizen's Movement was inspired by the following :

- Voting once every four years is not enough for a harmonious functioning of the political system, society and the state.
- Political parties and public administration cannot and should not be solely responsible for the future of the country and its development.
- Lack of empowerment leads citizens to sentiments of disappointment and apathy concerning what should be done politically and socially. This in turn leads to a presumption of arbitrariness and corruption in public life.

Unfortunately, these phenomena are widely detectable in contemporary Greek reality.

The Citizen's Movement believes that the development of an "active citizen" consciousness is necessary for the adoption of ethical and high quality standards in public life. It is also indispensable for the exercise of an essential critique of political decisions and for the control of fairness and efficacy of public administration.

Activities of the Citizen's Movement are developed in the framework of these objectives and principles. The Citizen's Movement initiatives cover selectively amongst a wide spectrum of subjects those that are of general political, economical and social interest.

Some characteristic subjects upon which various initiatives have been organised by the Citizen's Movement are:

Dysfunctions of the Judicial System
Dysfunctions of Public Administration
Constitutional Reform
Environment and the Citizen.
Accountability of Public Interest Organizations
European Construction
Production and dissemination of knowledge in Greece -Higher Education
Mass Media
Accountability and Audit of Public Finances

Among other activities, the Citizen's Movement runs a bi-annual competition called 'Quality Islets' that rewards original collective activities by non-profit organisations. Through this activity the Citizens Movement aims to focus on bright collective examples of 'active citizens' contributing to a better Society. So far the President of the Hellenic Republic has honoured the 'Quality Islets' competition by agreeing to present the awards.