Political party-interest group linkages in Greece before and after the onset of the economic crisis

Greece's traditional system of state corporatism and polarized party system were the bases of very tight linkages between interest groups and political parties in the post-authoritarian period. Owing to governing policy shifts which negatively affected the strongest interest groups, a weakening of such tight linkages occurred, culminating during the economic crisis, when interest groups challenged austerity policies. This confrontation helped bring the collapse of the old party system and the rise of Syriza to power. The disentanglement of interest groups from parties was more visible with regard to their policy-related ties than organizational or leadership ties. Thus, despite their weakening, ties between interest groups and parties have not been completely severed.