Green Parties
The rise of green parties from environmental movements to governing coalitions, and their distinctive organizational culture.
From Movement to Party
Green parties emerged from the environmental and anti-nuclear movements of the 1970s and 1980s. Germany's Die Grunen, founded in 1980, was the pioneering model. The German Greens combined environmentalism with pacifism, feminism, and participatory democracy, representing a 'new politics' that cut across the traditional left-right divide. They entered the Bundestag in 1983 and joined the federal government in 1998.
Green parties now exist in most European countries and many others worldwide. They are strongest in Northern and Western Europe (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg have all had Greens in government). In the European Parliament, the Greens/EFA group is a significant faction. Their electoral support has grown as climate change has risen on the political agenda, particularly among younger and more educated voters.