Effectiveness Does Not Always Equate to Legislative Quality: The Case of the 15th Parliamentary Term in Greece.

The article examines the distinction between legislative effectiveness and legislative quality, focusing on the 15th parliamentary term in Greece (2012–2014) during the debt crisis. It highlights how the Greek government, under Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, employed accelerated and autocratic law-making practices—such as frequent use of legislative acts of necessity, bypassing parliamentary procedures, and enacting voluminous, heterogeneous, and constitutionally dubious laws—to meet Troika-imposed economic reforms. Despite these practices undermining democratic processes and legislative quality, the resulting legislation was effective in improving Greece’s economic indicators. The article concludes that while effectiveness is an important aspect of legislation, true legislative quality in a democratic state requires adherence to constitutional procedures, clarity, coherence, and democratic legitimacy, emphasizing that effective laws are not necessarily qualitative laws.