Path: Table of Contents > Essay on Party Politics > Party 142
Greek National Progressive Union of the Center, 142
Variables and Codes for 1950-1962
For the concepts and variables below, use these links to Political Parties: A Cross-National Survey:
Institutionalization
Governmental Status
Issue Orientation
Goal Orientation
Autonomy
Organizational Complexity
Organizational Power
Organizational Coherence
Membership Involvement
The "ac" code is for "adequacy-confidence"--a data quality measure ranging from 0 (low) to 9 (high)
Party name and code number
Greek National Progressive Union of the Center, 142, Ethniki Proodeftikon Enosis Kendrou, EPEK
Information base and researchers
The information base for party politics in Greece consists of 509 pages from 45 documents, with 82 pages or 16 percent pertaining to the EPEK. George Antunes indexed the literature. Alan Kaplan coded the variables.

Institutionalization Variables, 1.01-1.06
1.01 year of origin and 1.02 name changes
1950, ac6
0, ac6
The national progressive union of the center was formed in 1950 through a coalition of several smaller parties. It was under the leadership of Plastiras, a former general and political leader of Greece. The party did not change its name during the period but was known by other names when it was part of electoral coalitions. These included the Democratic Union in 1956 and pade in 1958.
1.03 organizational discontinuity
19, ac7
During General Plastiras" illness in 1953 and after his death, several of his followers left the party. This was not judged to be a split, although the party steadily lost adherents and deputies. Its remnants merged into the Center Union, EK, in 1961.
1.04 leadership competition
14, ac7
The leadership of the party changed twice between 1950 and 1962. What began as an apparent joint leadership structure (Plastiras and tsouderos) changed in 1951 with Plastiras becoming the dominant figure. This was coded as an internal power struggle. The second change, occurring at the death of Plastiras in 1955, was overt. Papapolitis became the new head.
1.05 / 2.05 legislative instability and strength instability is .90, ac7
Strength is .10 for 1st half, ac6 and .01 for 2nd half, ac8
The information about the EPEK legislative representation is sketchy and judgments depend on some interpretations on its representation following an election in coalition with other parties. But it is clear that the high point of EPEK representation came in 1951, when it won 29 percent of the seats. Its strength declined rather steadily thereafter. Following the 1958 elections, the EPEK is credited with only one deputy, and it of course lost representation when it merged into the EK in 1961.
1.06 / 2.06 electoral instability and strength instability is 1.0, ac4
Strength is .17 for 1st half, ac4 and undefined for 2nd half.
The EPEK contested only two of the six elections during our time period by presenting its own candidates. It did this in 1950 and 1951, when it won 16 and 24 percent of the vote respectively. In 1952, it entered a coalition with the liberals but appeared to retain some of its own identity. Therefore we have credited it with 10 of the 34 percent of the votes won by the coalition, which reflects the proportion of seats won by the EPEK. In 1956, the EPEK was involved in a broader coalition under the name, Democratic Union, DE, and it is not credited with votes won in this election. The same applies to 1958, when it coalesced with other groups in the progressive agrarian Democratic Union, PADE. Finally, it received no credit for contesting the election in 1961, by which time the party had merged into the Center Union, EK. Its relatively high instability score reflects the fact that it is counted as contesting only half of the elections during our period.

Governmental Status Variables, 2.01-2.07
2.01 government discrimination
for 1st half, ac7
-1 for 2nd half, ac7
EPEK, as one of the governing parties during the first half of our time period, participated in the Greek political game of adjusting the electoral laws to the advantage of the governing party. As a non-governing party during the second half of our period , it was disadvantaged by the revised electoral laws.
2.02 governmental leadership
3 out of 7 for 1st half, ac9
0 out of 6 for 2nd half, ac9
General Plastiras served as premier of Greece for parts of 1950, 1951, and 1952. He served in this position as part of several coalition governments.
2.03 cabinet participation
3 out of 7 for 1st half, ac9
0 out of 6 for 2nd half, ac9
EPEK participated in several cabinet coalitions in the years 1950, 1951, and 1952. Plastiras joined with Venizelos, head of the liberals, and Papandreou, head of the Social Democrats in 1950. In 1951, he joined Venizelos for a coalition that lasted until Papagos" election victory in 1952.
2.04 national participation
5, ac6
The 1958 survey of party preference by region reveals that the EPEK drew more than half of its supporters from the sterea-evoia region.
2.07 outside origin
4, ac8
EPEK was formed by a coalition of elected officials with General Plastiras, a prominent, highly controversial political figure.

Issue Orientation Variables, 5.01-5.15
5.01 ownership of means of production
ac1
no information
5.02 government role in economic planning
1 for first half, ac6
1 for second half, ac3
The economic policy of EPEK was mentioned just once. This document described the 1950 policy as one of changes in the economic environment of Greece. These programs included a simplified taxation system and some control over subsidies.
5.03 redistribution of wealth
1, ac3
In 1950 EPEK supported higher taxes on the rich. This was part of their proposed new taxation system. The term "distribution of wealth" was not used in connection with the change in the tax structure.
5.04 social welfare
ac1
no information
5.05 secularization of society
ac1
no information
5.06 support of the military
1, ac7
EPEK advocated and carried out a policy of reducing the size of the military by over 40 percent. They did this to reduce the budget deficit. The new size was adequate to maintain internal and external security.
5.07 alignment with east-west blocs
3, ac8
EPEK wanted to continue the strong relationship with great britain and the united states that Greece had at the time. However, it also advocated rapproachment and regularized relations with the Soviet union and yugoslavia. Plastiras assured his followers that he would keep the united states and great britain informed of all relations with the eastern bloc.
5.08 anti-colonialism
0, ac6
Greece was not involved in a colonial relationship during this time period.
5.09 supranational integration
ac1
no information
5.10 national integration
5, ac6
The issue of national integration in Greece involved the problem of Cyprus. On this issue, the EPEK wanted to continue the crusade to unify " Cyprus with mother Greece." the party stated that this was a panhellenic aspiration.
5.11 electoral participation
4, ac6
During the whole time period, EPEK advocated granting and continuation of universal adult suffrage. When in power, however, the 1952 election law which they wrote and helped pass, contained provisions whih restricted the rights of military men to vote and postponed the rights of women to vote until after the election.
5.12 protection of civil rights
ac1
no information
5.13 interference with civil liberties
ac1
no information
5.14 / 5.15 US--Soviet experts left-right ratings
US says 2, center
Soviets say nothing

Goal Orientation Variables, 6.01-6.55
6.00 open competition in the electoral process
4, ac9
EPEK relied exclusively on open competition in the electoral process. The party competed in all of the elections between 1950 and 1962, either on its own or as part of an electoral coalition. It was part of the 1956 Democratic Union and the 1958 pade.
6.10 restricting party competition
0, ac8
There is no evidence of any action taken by EPEK to restrict party competition.
6.20 subverting the political system
0, ac8
There is no evidence of any action taken by EPEK to subvert the political process.
6.30 propagandizing ideas and program
ac1
no information
6.40 allying with other parties
ac1
no information
6.50 providing for welfare of party members
ac1
no information

Autonomy Variables, 7.01-7.05
7.01 sources of funds
ac1
no information
7.02 source of members
ac1
no information
7.03 sources of leaders
5, ac4
The leaders of EPEK during this period were Plastiras, tsouderos, kartalis, rendis, and papapolitis. This small group reflects considerable diversity in background. Plastiras was a General, tsouderos a banker and economist, kartalis an economist and former resistance leader, and rendis and papapolitis were lawyers.
7.04 relations with domestic parties
3, ac8
EPEK showed moderate dependence in its relations with other domestic parties. Between 1950 and 1952, EPEK participated in a number of coalition governments with Plastiras as premier of most. After 1952, EPEK was part of several electoral pacts.
7.05 relations with foreign organizations
5, ac3
no evidence was found that would link EPEK with any outside organizations.

Organizational Complexity Variables, 8.01-8.07
8.01 structural articulation
0, ac3
No party organs--national, regional, or local--are discernble.
8.02 intensiveness of organization
ac1
no information
8.03 extensiveness of organization
ac1
no information
8.04 frequency of local meetings
ac1
no information
8.05 frequency of national meetings
ac1
no information
8.06 maintaining records
ac1
no information
8.07 pervasiveness of organization
ac1
no information

Organizational Power Variables, 9.01-9.08
9.01 nationalization of structure
ac1
no information
9.02 selecting the national leader
ac1
no information
9.03 selecting parliamentary candidates
ac1
no information
9.04 allocating funds
ac1
no information
9.05 formulating policy
ac1
no information
9.06 controlling communications
ac1
no information
9.07 administering discipline
0, ac3
no techniques of discipline are discernible.
9.08 leadership concentration
6 for first half, ac8
6 for second half, ac3
Leadership of EPEK was exercised by one individual--General Plastiras and later papapolitis. For Plastiras, it is likely, but not certain, that he could and did commit the party to binding courses of action. For papapolitis, no information on his leadership is available, but it is inferred that his powers were comparable to those of Plastiras.

Coherence Variables, 10.01-10.06
10.01 legislative cohesion
ac1
no information
1002 ideological factionalism
ac1
no information
10.03 issue factionalism
ac1
no information
10.04 leadership factionalism
1, ac5
Some degree of leadership factionalism appears to have occurred during the early part of our time period, when Plastiras and tsouderos shared control of the party. But tsouderos died and this factionalism did not characterize the bulk of our period.
10.05 strategic or tactical factionalism
ac1
no information
10.06 party purges
0, ac6
no purges are discernible.

Involvement Variables, 11.01-11.06
11.01 membership requirements
ac1
no information
11.02 membership participation
ac1
no information
11.03 material incentives
ac1
no information
11.04 purposive incentives
0, ac3
There is no evidence that the policy stands of the party inspired militants to work for its goals.
11.05 doctrinism
0, ac3
no written body of literature to which the party leaders or members refer to justify party activities is discernible.
11.06 personalism
3 for first half, ac3
For second half, ac1
Although specific percentages are impossible to discern from the present data, it is possible to infer that many militants were motivated by personalism in the first time period. This is clearly illustrated by the personal following of General Plastiras who was a beloved national leader. He was called "the father of the republic of 1928." no information is available to code the personalism of papapolitis.