Party politics and the environmentand influence policy. The willingness of green parties to join governing
coalitions suggests that they have to some degree been incorporated and
deradicalised by the existing political system. The APP model has had little
discernible effect on the way other parties conduct themselves, apart from
adding to the general pressure to improve the representation of women.
However, despite their inexperience and their position as junior coalition
partners, green parties in government can point to some genuine policy
achievements and have shown that they can be trustworthy and competent
members of the government.
More broadly, the environment still lacks electoral saliency. Political dis-
course is still dominated by materialist issues, such as the state of the econ-
omy and taxation. Green electoral success has helped disrupt traditional
party alignments in several countries. A strong green party presence can
push the environment up the political agenda, forcing established parties
to respond tothisnewagenda. Environmental politics is no longer – if it
ever was – the exclusive preserve of green parties. Even where green parties
are weak, as in Britain, other parties often claim to be the ‘true’ green party.
Established parties have adopted greener rhetoric and promised new envi-
ronmental initiatives, thereby appropriating and deradicalising parts of the
environmental agenda. Consequently, it is vital that green parties, especially
when they enter government, do not allow their broader role as agitators
and protectors of a green conscience to be sacrificed on the altar of electoral
success. The wider environmental movement outside parliament is strug-
gling with a similar dilemma between radicalism and reformism, which we
turn tointhenext chapter.
◗ Further reading and websites (see Chapter4 for
green party websites)
General accounts of the organisational development of green parties can be
found in Burchell ( 2002 ), Doherty ( 2002 )and Rihoux ( 2006 ). The experience
of the GreensingovernmentisanalysedinM ̈uller-Rommel and Poguntke
(2002)andaspecialissueoftheEuropean Journal of Political Research(2006).
An interesting comparison of the French and German green parties can be
found inBluhdorn and Szarka ( ̈ 2004 ). There is surprisingly little analysis of
the greening of established parties: for Germany, see Lees ( 2000 ); for Britain,
see Carter ( 2006 ); for the USA, see Tatalovich and Wattier ( 1999 )andBosso
and Guber ( 2006 ).
Germany
CDU (http://www.cdu.de/)
SPD (http://www.spd.de/)
FDP (http://www.fdp.de/)
Christian Social Union (CSU) (http://www.csu.de/)
Left Party (PDS) (http://sozialisten.de/sozialisten/aktuell/index.htm)