The streets of Athens are covered in Syriza posters that read, “Hope is on the way.” And for many it really feels that way. Not only hope, but their last hope. “If Alexis [Tsipras] fails, there is only fascism left,” one person told me after I arrived in the country, referring to the party’s leader.

But there is more than fear. There is a sense of optimism that things are about to change for the better. The trust among Syriza supporters that the party can improve Greek society, however, has often clouded discussions of the difficulties that a left government would face.

This is understandable. Greece has been stuck in its worst economic and political crisis since the end of the dictatorship in 1974. Taken hostage by the troika, a quarter of the country’s GDP has been destroyed, and youth unemployment stands at 50 percent.