THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF GREEN PARTIES
THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF GREEN PARTIES

Summary/Abstract: THE JOINT EFFECTS OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS CONSTRAINTS AND PARTY STRATEGIES IN FRANCE, ITALY, GREAT-BRITAIN AND GERMANY The emergence of Green parties has long been explained by the development of post-materialist values in advanced democracies. This article takes a somewhat different perspective, by analysing the joint effects of electoral systems constraints and party internal and external strategies. The comparison between the French, the Italian, the British and the German cases reinforces the idea that post-materialist values might be considered as characteristics of the Green electorate more than independent variables of the emergence of Green parties. This paper shows that it is the joint effects of the characteristics of electoral systems and Green parties’ overall strategies which can explain their successes and failures. The institutional features of a given system can multiply or reduce the possibilities of entry and of coalition building of a new party. In contrast, from a strategic point of view, the internal organisation of a given Green party and its position toward the questions of intra-party democracy, institutionalisation, and incorporation into the parliamentary game are determinant. Therefore, important institutional factors and strategic choices can explain the failure of the Green Party, the weaknesses of Les Verts and i Verdi, as well as the emergence and the conversion of Die Grünen to classical political liberalism.

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