The emergence of Green parties towards the end of the 1970s was a
significant turning point in the development of party systems in Western Europe.
Most of them had been highly stable after World War II until the early 1970s.
Therefore, in several countries, the Greens were the first to disrupt the stable party
systems of the 1950s and 60s. But why Green parties? And why in the 1970s? And
why were and are the Greens in some European countries more successful than in
others? And why in a few did they almost completely fail?
The aim of this essay is to find answers to the questions mentioned, exploring
whether value change, party strategy or institutions are the best explanation for the
development of Green parties across Europe. Therefore the essay is divided into
two main parts. The first rather small one elaborates in which countries in Western
Europe Green parties have played a more or less significant role in the past thirty
years and in which countries they haven’t. This is rather a descriptive approach
answering the question of what is to be analysed in the second part. In this second
more analytical part of the paper, the different approaches to explain the
emergence of Green parties - value change, party stretegy or institutions - are
explored searching for the most convincing one.
[...]
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. The Electoral Results of Green Parties in Western Europe - An Overview
III. Explaining the Success or Failure of Green Parties in Western Europe
III.1. Value Change as an Explaining Factor
III.2. The Role of Party Organisation and Party Strategy
III.3. The Institutional Design as an Explaining Factor
IV. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This paper aims to investigate the factors influencing the electoral success or failure of Green parties in Western Europe. The central research question seeks to determine which variables—specifically value change, party strategy, or institutional design—offer the most compelling explanation for the varying performances of Green parties across different national contexts.
- The impact of post-materialist value shifts on voter realignment and dealignment.
- The influence of internal party organization and grassroots democratic structures on electoral viability.
- The role of political institutions, including electoral systems and federal versus unitary state structures.
- The significance of party financing and issue-specific agenda setting in national contexts.
- Comparative analysis of electoral performance across various Western European countries.
Excerpt from the Book
III.3. The Institutional Design as an Explaining Factor
The institutional approach considers all the environmental factors prevailing in a certain country that may influence generally the formation of new parties and especially that of Green parties.
A first topic to be explored is the electoral system. In the 1950s, MAURICE DUVERGER discovered the so-called Duverger’s Law, which says that FPTP-electoral systems likely create two-party systems, whereas PR-vote forms a multi-party system (cf. DUVERGER 1954: 217 f.). Therefore, in majoritarian systems with a single-member-district vote, it is almost impossible for new parties to enter the political system and become relevant3 ones. And furthermore, it is in fact proved (see HARMEL/ROBERTSON 1985) that PR-voting systems facilitate the emergence of new parties whereas the FPTP-system inhibits the electoral success of new, small parties.
This seems a fairly convincing explanation for the failure of the Green party in the United Kingdom, where the party system is dominated by Labour and the Conservatives. Although the British party system has changed in recent years, as more parties compete for votes, ‘only the two major parties [...] can form a single party government under Britain’s electoral system’ (HEFFERNAN 2003: 121). Small parties such as the Greens are pemanently marginalised and excluded from power. The Greens in the UK have mostly won less than one percent of the popular vote, which is mainly due to the psychological effect of the FPTP-electoral system, as voters get the feeling of wasting their vote by giving them to a candidate of a small party.
Chapter Summary
I. Introduction: Outlines the historical emergence of Green parties in the late 1970s and establishes the comparative framework for analyzing their success or failure.
II. The Electoral Results of Green Parties in Western Europe - An Overview: Provides a descriptive overview of the electoral performance of Green parties across fifteen Western European nations between 1978 and 2004.
III. Explaining the Success or Failure of Green Parties in Western Europe: Analyzes the theoretical and empirical dimensions of why Green parties succeed or fail, focusing on value change, strategy, and institutions.
III.1. Value Change as an Explaining Factor: Examines how post-materialist value shifts and voter dealignment/realignment contribute to the emergence of new, issue-based parties.
III.2. The Role of Party Organisation and Party Strategy: Investigates how internal organizational structures, specifically grassroots democracy and programmatic moderation, influence electoral outcomes.
III.3. The Institutional Design as an Explaining Factor: Evaluates the influence of electoral systems, state centralization, and party financing on the ability of Green parties to gain representation.
IV. Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings and concludes that institutional design provides the most persuasive explanation for the cross-national variation in Green party success.
Keywords
Green parties, Western Europe, value change, post-materialism, electoral systems, FPTP, PR-voting, party strategy, grassroots democracy, institutional design, party financing, political science, voter realignment, electoral volatility, environmental policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this research paper?
The paper examines the reasons behind the varying electoral success of Green parties across Western Europe, comparing different explanatory models.
Which theoretical frameworks are used to explain the rise of Green parties?
The author considers three main areas: the shift toward post-materialist values (value change), the influence of internal party organization and strategy, and the structural impact of political institutions.
What is the primary research question?
The core question is whether value change, party strategy, or institutional frameworks provide the most convincing explanation for the successes or failures of Green parties.
What research methodology is employed?
The study utilizes a comparative political approach, reviewing empirical electoral data and existing scholarly literature to test the validity of the three proposed explanatory factors.
What is covered in the main body of the paper?
The main body details the electoral performance of Green parties, analyzes the realignment/dealignment theses, discusses the evolution of Green party organizations, and evaluates the constraints imposed by specific electoral systems.
Which keywords best characterize the study?
Key terms include Green parties, electoral success, institutional design, post-materialism, party strategy, and Western Europe.
How does the author evaluate the "value change" argument?
The author argues that while value change explains the general emergence of Green parties, it is too broad and fails to account for country-specific variations in success.
How does the author explain the success of Green parties in France and Germany?
The author links their success to the presence of high-profile political issues, such as the struggle against nuclear power plants, which resonated with the electorate in those specific countries.
What role does the electoral system play in the success or failure of a party?
The author posits that proportional representation (PR) systems generally facilitate the success of smaller, new parties, whereas "First-Past-The-Post" (FPTP) systems tend to marginalize them, as seen in the UK.
What is the final conclusion regarding the most important factor?
The paper concludes that institutional design—specifically federalism, proportional representation, and favorable party financing—offers the most compelling and persuasive explanation for the performance of Green parties.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Sandra Graf (Autor:in), 2005, What is the most convincing explanation for the success (or failure) of green parties in Europe - Value change, party strategy or institutions, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/54368
