Ferdinand Müller-Rommel - Green Parties in National Governments

Of Related Interest

ECOLOGY AND DEMOCRACY

ECOLOGICAL MODERNISATION AROUND THE WORLD

Perspectives and Critical Debates

DILEMMAS OF TRANSITION

The Environment, Democracy and Economic Reform in East Central Europe
edited by Susan Baker and Petr Jehlika

ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENTS
Local, National and Global
edited by Christopher Rootes

POLITICAL THEORY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

A Reassessment

First published 2002 by Frank Cass Publishers

This edition published 2012 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4RN

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Some 30 years ago, research on individual values showed a gradual, yet unmistakable shift towards post-materialist value orientations in Western publics. Within a few years, the first Green councillors and regional parliamentarians were elected, and less than a decade later, Green parties successfully fielded candidates in national elections in many European nations. What had begun as a Silent Revolution was beginning to manifest itself in institutionalised politics, starting, quite appropriately, on the local level but swiftly moving upwards towards national parliaments. The emergence and success of Green parties seem linked with the shift towards post-materialist values. Today, a large body of empirical comparative research demonstrates that Green parties (with some minor right-wing exceptions) reflect post-materialist value change: the social base of their activists and voters, their ideology, their organisation and their preference for protest politics all correspond neatly to the essential characteristics of post-materialism.

Yet, as the more successful Green parties are now entering the governing coalitions of many Western countries, it remains unclear as to what extent post-materialist ideals have actually survived the march through the institutions. In Germany, a Green foreign minister who, in his youth, fought against NATO, has presided over German participation in Western military interventions. Have Green parties in national governments been able to inject at least some key post-materialist goals into their governmental programmes? Inevitably, any social movement that chooses to take part in governments will lose some of its original reformist (or even revolutionary) zeal. The history of European Social Democracy testifies to this, and it is not accidental that some of the bitter internal debates between fundamentalists and realists within European Green parties are reminiscent of similar debates within Social Democratic parties almost a century earlier. Nevertheless, any new political party of significant size will have some impact on its countrys politics and policies, because it will force competing parties to respond to the new challenge. This becomes even more likely once such a party makes it into government.

Although the literature on Green parties is virtually limitless, so far very little attention has been given to the question of what these parties have actually achieved in government. Analyses of the Green electorate abound, much has been written on their internal organisation and political strategy, on the profiles and motivations of Green activists, and an entire body of literature has developed around Green political thought. But not much attention has been given to what Green parties actually do when they get the chance to put their ideals and ideas into practice.

This collection on Green Parties in National Governments is a unique and important step towards filling this gap in our knowledge. It is the first major comparative study that addresses these issues from a systematic and empirical perspective. Looking at the processes of coalition formation, at the behaviour of Green parties in government, their impact on government policy and the effects of governmental participation on their electoral and organisational stability, it provides important insights into the institutional effects of post-materialist value change. In other words, it asks to what extent Green parties in national government have actually been able to change their countries policies.

The analysis of the Green parties first years in government yields a mixed record. Most of their radical demands had to be shelved or were not even raised. This is not surprising, given the limited electoral strength and bargaining power of these parties. Nevertheless, as this study shows, the Greens have achieved a surprising degree of success at the less conspicuous levels of administration and policy implementation. By gaining access to the machinery of government, the Greens have changed far more than is evident at first glance even to an informed observer.