ABSTRACT
The transition to democracy in Spain, Portugal, and Greece in the mid1970s attracted considerable external attention, and it gave rise to a new ‘southern European’ profile in political, economic, and military discussions. However, while Greece shares certain social and economic traits with the new Iberian states its political experience has exhibited important differences.1 The Greek political system has had a longer and more recent experience of liberal democratic rule than either Spain or Portugal, and the Greek transition to democracy in the 1970s has appeared to be a smoother one. To understand the process of consolidation of the new Greek regime after 1974, it is thus necessary to bear in mind the experiences of the previous parliamentary regime as they formed potent legacies affecting subsequent political attitudes.
