The career of Greece’s second largest party, SYRIZA (The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance) – its transformation from a small radical party into one that claimed and seized power in a European country – has aroused interest around its politics, strategy and, ultimately, character.
After all, it is not common for a left-wing populist party in Europe to come to power and form a government while claiming that it opposes the dominant political and economic establishment.
In the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008, SYRIZA (along with other left-wing populist parties) gave hope to the peoples of Europe that it was able to strike a new anti-neoliberal path and tear down the liberal and social democratic politics that led to economic collapse, poverty and social exclusion.
