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It is argued that the PS was from the outset (1973) a cartel party. It meant it concentrated on office-seeking than building a proper membership structure. The Revolution of Carnations on 25th of April 1975. led to the rise of the PS. For a long period of time the dominant personality of the party was Mario Soares and this had a negative impact on the party. Only after the election of Mario Soares to the presidency of the republic, did the leadership begin to modernize the structures of the party. Between 1985 and 1995, several leaders tried to reorient the party towards a more pragmatic less ideological profile. In 1995, the pragmatic modernizer Antonio Guterres became one of the first representatives of the Third Way. Today, the PS is a cartel party which is highly dependent on state funding and characterised by an office-seeking strategy.