Suchergebnisse

The chapter reviews the development of green parties and their performance in European Elections from 1979 to 2014, and discusses their prospects for the 2019 elections.

Green parties entered the European election campaign of 2014 facing some major challenges. Austerity politics and the Euro crisis ensured that social and economic issues dominated the agenda and, with environmental topics marginalised, populist right-wing and Eurosceptic parties were expected to make big gains in many countries. The Greens had been boosted in 2009 by record results for French and German Greens, but neither was expected to do as well. Given the broadly unfavourable conditions, Green parties performed reasonably well. The European Green Party (EGP) won 38 seats in the European Parliament, compared with 46 in 2009. The Green Party-European Free Alliance (EFA) parliamentary group registered 50 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), including seven from various regional parties and five independents in 2014, compared with 55 in 2009. Adapted from the source document.

The German Greens had a disappointing election outcome on 22 September 2013. Its 8.4% of the vote, well below its record 10.7% in 2009, left the party shocked and dispirited. Adapted from the source document.

The German Greens achieved a record result in the federal elections of 2009. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, it is argued that this excellent result was not an isolated phenomenon but is in line with a long-term growth of Green electoral support that has a strong generational basis. A 'feminisation' and 'greying' of Green voters is also apparent. Despite the party's effort to emphasise economic and social issues in its campaigning, the chief factors explaining Green voting remain environmental concern and opposition to nuclear energy. Adapted from the source document.

Abstract. Examining the record of Green parties that have been involved in government at national level, two distinct pictures emerge. While the electoral fortunes of Green parties in East-Central Europe sharply declined after their stint in government, Green parties in Western Europe on the whole have not fared badly, with most experiencing gains in support. This article seeks to address the variety of factors that could account for different Green electoral fortunes. Among the approaches considered are economic voting, environmental issue salience, portfolio allocation, policy impact and strategic voting. While economic and environmental background factors clearly were important in the East-Central European cases, they are less useful in explaining variation between the West European experiences. The ability of Greens to improve their perceived policy competence and the profile of their leading politicians has helped them benefit from a period in office. Most crucially, Greens can benefit from strategic voting where a Green vote comes to represent support for the government as a whole. The main conclusion is that there are two paths to post-incumbency success: either Greens try to remain distant from taking full government responsibility, thus deflecting any electoral costs of incumbency, or they embrace government and the chance of demonstrating their competence fully to survive or fall with the government as a whole. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

The German Greens entered the federal government as junior partners of the Social Democrats in 1998. The birth & development of this coalition are analyzed, concentrating on its first two years. What have been the main achievements of the Greens? Where & why have the Greens been disappointed? What is the likely impact of their experience in government on the future of the party? In the analysis particular emphasis is placed on the relative weakness of the Greens before entering government & on external factors that made it very difficult for the Greens to succeed with their three top priority projects: phasing out nuclear energy, reforming nationality law, & the introduction of ecological taxation. Green electoral support has been fairly steady throughout their period of government after dropping sharply in 1998. The Greens will need to fight hard to mobilize their core electorate but may also benefit from the support of Social Democrats wishing to retain the "red-green" government coalition beyond 2002. 45 References. Adapted from the source document.