Why the opposition? Is it an important institution for the balance of parliamentarism? If so, within the framework of which parliamentarism? In the special case of post-civil war Greece, after a painful civil war and with the consequences still fresh, what kind of opposition and to what extent can it play its institutional and broader political role?

This book attempts to provide a 'pragmatic' reading of the role of the opposition during the period 1949-1963. It creates a comprehensive conceptual framework within which it situates the exercise of opposition. It attempts a coherent interpretation using conceptual tools such as the notion of 'limited parliamentarism' and the dichotomy 'political system/political regime,' and characterizes, correspondingly, the opposition exercised by each political entity.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]