The path of modernization: PASOK and European integration
In 1974, the year in which PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) was founded, Greece faced one of those ‘critical situations’, described by Emile Durkheim, during which exceptional events strengthen collective identities and consolidate the feeling of belonging to a community. The fall of the dictatorship, the humiliation of Greece in Cyprus, and the referendum which brought about the end of the monarchy were the major events in 1974. These events mobilized large segments of the population, signicantly increased interest in politics, raised the credibility of political parties, and legitimized expectations of innovative political reforms. Everything appeared possible in 1974. Throughout the 1970s and culminating in 1981, the year of the great electoral triumph of the Greek socialists (48.07 per cent in contrast to 25.33 per cent in 1977 and only 13.58 per cent in 1974), PASOK had been imposed as a force which—more than any other party of the Left or the Right—represented the widespread conviction that extraordinary political engineering was on the agenda. In the 1970s and the early 1980s, PASOK proved to be extremely successful in combining anti-capitalist discourse with the historically articulated symbols of the political Centre. Andreas Papandreou, the leader and founder of PASOK, personied this combination in an exemplary fashion, unifying his centrist origin with Marxist analysis. Indeed, the strategic position occupied by the Greek socialists in the system of party competition was unique and remarkable. In the rst period (1974–1981), PASOK succeeded in functioning as the main vehicle of political protest within the party system, touching at times, in its rhetoric, the limits of an anti-systemic party. It succeeded at the same time in gradually dominating the electoral space of the historic Centre and establishing itself, particularly after the elections of 1977, as a party à vocation majoritaire. During this period, PASOK was—simultaneously!—a continuation of the historical Centre and a force more innovative and dynamic than the communist Left. The strategy of PASOK in the period 1974–1985 could be compared to that of François Mitterrand in the period 1973–1984. Both strategies should be taught in the textbooks of political science as two different paradigms which
Believing in national exceptionalism: ideas and economic divergence in Southern Europe
Economic adjustment in Spain, Portugal and Greece prior to the EMU nominal convergence programme is examined in an effort to explain divergence from policy orthodoxy. A notion of national exceptionalism is proposed as an ideational framework through which government policy makers perceive their country's position in the European and global sphere. Three levels of national exceptionalism are distinguished, in ascending order of explanatory importance: a level at which national exceptionalism is rooted in cultural predispositions; a level at which it appears to be empirically and logically plausible; and a level at which it offers a politically beneficial ideological strategy. When all three levels concur, national exceptionalism carries notable ancillary explanatory power. That is the case with post-authoritarian Greece through the 1980s, but not with Spain or Portugal.
Turbine blade temperature calculation and life estimation - a sensitivity analysis
Abstract The overall operating cost of the modern gas turbines is greatly influenced by the durability of hot section components operating at high temperatures. In turbine operating conditions, some defects may occur which can decrease hot section life. In the present paper, methods used for calculating blade temperature and life are demonstrated and validated. Using these methods, a set of sensitivity analyses on the parameters affecting temperature and life of a high pressure, high temperature turbine first stage blade is carried out. Investigated uncertainties are: (1) blade coating thickness, (2) coolant inlet pressure and temperature (as a result of secondary air system), and (3) gas turbine load variation. Results show that increasing thermal barrier coating thickness by 3 times, leads to rise in the blade life by 9 times. In addition, considering inlet cooling temperature and pressure, deviation in temperature has greater effect on blade life. One of the interesting points that can be realized from the results is that 300 hours operation at 70% load can be equal to one hour operation at base load.