The Rise of the Greek Socialist Party, by Michalis Spourdalakis

When the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) formed the first Greek Socialist government, its stated aims of expelling US military bases, withdrawing Greece from NATO and of redistributing wealth, revealed it as a radical force in Europe's South and in world politics. This book presents a detailed examination of PASOK's remarkable 'short march to power' tracing the Party's development from its formation in 1974 at the end of the Junta period to electoral victory in 1981, and continuing thereafter with developments right up to the present. It examines its organisation; the frictions among its internal political currents; the pivotal role of its leader Andreas Papandreou; its social base and its effect upon the party system, the political culture and the state. It discusses its policies and record in government, showing how and why its original promises remained unfulfilled so that it is now 'an empty shadow of its old radical self'.