The second period of the rule of Otto of Greece begins in March 1844, when in the aftermath of the military coup he convenes a national assembly to draft a constitution.

When the assembly finishes its work in the spring, a new system of government is established.

Otto will henceforth rule as a constitutional monarch.

A bicameral legislature will be elected by all property-holding males over twenty-five.

In theory, this makes Greece one of the most democratic states in Europe, but Otto retains the power to appoint and dismiss government ministers, to dissolve parliament, to veto legislation, and issue executive decrees.

Parliamentary democracy, instead of promoting political parties, spawns a new factionalism based on the patronage of prominent individuals.

The career of Ioannis Kolettis, who is appointed prime minister under the new system, exemplifies the politics of personality.

The restricted borders of the modern Greek state at its inception in 1830 had disappointed the inhabitants of Epirus and Macedonia, who remain under Ottoman rule.

Addressing these concerns to the constitutional assembly in Athens, Kolettis states, "the kingdom of Greece is not Greece; it is only a part, the smallest and poorest, of Greece.

The Greek is not only he who inhabits the kingdom, but also he who lives in Ioannina), or Thessaloniki, or Serres, or Adrianople."

Ioannis Kolettis manages the Greek parliament and achieves a virtual monopoly of administrative power by use of lavish bribes, intimidation, and a keen sensitivity to public opinion.

He also originates the Megali Idea (Great Idea), the concept that Greeks must be reunited by annexing Ottoman territory adjacent to the republic.

This irredentism, as the single idea that unites the disparate factions and regions of Greece following independence, will influence all of Greek foreign policy through the nineteenth century.