From Traditional Clientelism to Machine Politics: the Impact of PASOK Populism in Greece

Abstract

Abstract Research on the transformations of party clientelism in Greece since 1974 focused on jobs and careers and included four case studies of particular organizations and two local studies of contrasting areas, in the Peloponnesus and in Macedonia. It shows that PASOK's accession to power in 1981 brought with it a quantum leap in party patronage, and the transformation of traditional clientelism into machine politics. The Greek experience exemplifies a process whereby meritocracy is swept away by populism in the context of democratization.