ABSTRACT
The new system quickly passed its first test with the November 1974 election, widely regarded as the fairest electoral contest to have been held up till then in Greece's post-war history. The right-wing governing party, the National Radical Union, had expected the 1962 Association Agreement, by strengthening Greece's ties to the west, to reinforce the existing political structures. Meanwhile the United Democratic Left, which rejected Greece's western orientation, vociferously opposed any kind of link with the European Community (EC), which it believed would intensify US domination and perpetuate what it regarded as the current undemocratic system. But in the post-1974 era, when Greece was seeking a new direction, the European Community acquired a new significance. In 1974 the new system seemed to be starting life with an impressive initial basis of support. With the application for EC membership in June 1975, Karamanlis' government hoped to settle the Greek identity problem once and for all.
