Political Strategies for Economic Manipulation: Democratic Elections in Greece 1960-1985

Abstract

The history of Greece since 1960 provides a fine opportunity for placing economic manipulation in comparative perspective (Clogg 1979: 166-200). From the 1960s to the 1980s, there have been regime changes as well as significant changes within regimes. The postwar preeminence of the right ended in November 1963 with the victory of the moderate Center Union over the National Radical Union. Center Union control faded into a period of instability with minority governments from mid-1965 until the military coup in April 1967. This military regime produced a new constitution in 1968, a referendum on the monarchy, and also a short-lived move toward civilian rule in 1973. Finally, the collapse of the military in July 1974 brought a restored democracy, repeated the referendum on the monarchy, and renewed the ascendancy of the right in the form of New Democracy, the National Radical Union renamed. Right-wing control was attenuated in the 1977 election and finally terminated by the victory in 1981 of PASOK, the Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement, a party most aptly classified as center-left. PASOK once again achieved victory, although with lesser majorities, in 1985. Economic models of political behavior typically rely on macroeconomic variables; they generally omit variables measuring income and resource redistribution. We tailor our methodology to the specific political context of Greece, examining not only the