PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS
togovern. However, some green parties are also willing to do business with
parties from the centre and even the right of the political spectrum. The
Belgian coalition between 1999–2003 was a broad alliance of Green, Social-
ist and Liberal parties, whilst the Finnish Green League between 1995–2002
wasinafive-party ‘rainbow government’ that included the ex-Communist
Left Alliance, the Social Democrats and the Conservative National Coali-
tion. After the 2002 Austrian election, the Green Party, despite its left-wing
image, entered formal, though unsuccessful, discussions with the Conserva-
tive Party.
Overall, it seems that thelogic of electoral competitionhas persuaded most
green parties to shift towards a more professional, centralised party organi-
sation and to display a willingness to work with established parties (Rihoux
2006 ). In those countries where green parties are now established, they are
no longer a party of protest but a credible alternative party and, in some
cases, a party of government.Critical question 1
Will electoral success inevitably undermine the ‘anti-party party’ model?◗ Greens in power
As green parties have strengthened their presence in national and sub-
national assemblies they have been forced to confront the challenges of gov-
ernance. By the late 1990s, Green politicians were at the heart of government
making tough policy decisions: Joschka Fischer was the German foreign min-
ister authorising German support for NATO bombing of Serbs; Dominique
Voynet was the French environment minister charged with the task of solv-
ing traffic congestion in Paris; and Magda Aelvoet was the Green health min-
ister with the responsibility for clearing up Belgium’s food-contamination
scandal. As Greens entered government, the nature of debate within green
parties shifted from whether weshouldgovern (Should we become a profes-
sional party? Should we enter parliament? Should we join a coalition?) to
howweshould govern (How do we cope with power? How do we exercise
leadership? How do we handle the rank and file?). Many of the old strate-
gic dilemmas remained, but they took different forms. The subsequent
departure of most green parties from government has prompted further
internal debate about future strategies (Was government a positive or nega-
tive experience? Should we remain close to our former coalition partners or
seek to reassert our independence? Should we court new potential coalition
partners? What further programmatic or organisational changes are needed
tohelp us return to government? Or should we return to the role of protest
party?). Although many of these debates are still raging, the Green experi-
ences of government since 1995 in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany and
Italy provide some important lessons.