Party politics and the environmentthe Greenshavedemonstratedthat they are a pragmatic party with a radical
reform agenda, who can be trusted to hold office.
Critical question 2
Do the achievements of green parties in government justify the compromises
made on the road to power?
◗ The ‘greening’ of established parties
Historically, party systems in industrialised liberal democracies have proved
adept at incorporating new political interests and denuding them of their
radicalism. Political parties have appropriated new issues or cleavages by
developing their own policies to address the problems identified by an
emerging interest, such as race or gender. Yet the rise of environmentalism
poses distinctive problems for established parties because the technocentric–
ecocentric divide cuts across the left–right cleavage that underpins most
party systems (see Box3.10). Established parties, both left and right, share a
technocentric commitment to maximising economic growth and are often
linked closely to producer interests: generally, labour and social democratic
parties are supported by trade unions, while conservative and liberal par-
ties are closer to business groups. Despite their obvious differences, these
producer interests are broadly united in supporting expansionary economic
policies and opposing environmental interests. Political elites may also be
nervous about adopting unpopular ‘green’ policies such as stringent eco-
taxes or restrictions on consumerist lifestyles.
Nevertheless, most established parties have gradually adopted a more posi-
tive attitude towards environmental protection. This adjustment may involve
Party politicisation:Aprocess whereby the
environment ascends the political agenda to
become electorally salient and the subject of
party competition.little more than the use of greener rhetoric, but
some parties have developed progressive environ-
mental programmes. Such differences raise several
questions. Why have some parties responded more
positively than others? How significant is the pres-
ence of a successful green party in shaping the responsiveness of estab-
lished parties? Do partisan divisions over the environment follow traditional
left–right lines? Such questions are explored here by examining theparty
politicisationof the environment in two countries already examined in some
detail and frequently compared in the green politics literature, Germany and
Britain, as well as the USA, which is often ignored in this literature.^3
There is considerable variety among these three rich industrialised nations:
Germany has a strong green party and a relatively open political opportunity
structure (POS); Britain has a weak green party and a relatively closed POS;
while the USA has no national green party but a pluralistic political system
that is reasonably open to new challenges. Finally, ‘party politicisation’ is