www.cevroinstitut.cz Left-libertarian parties: Green Parties www.cevroinstitut.cz Herbert Kitschelt (1988): left-libertarian parties 1. left ■ mistrust of the marketplace and private investments ■ egalitarian appeals 2. libertarian (liberal) ■ reject the authority of private or public bureaucracies to regulate individual and collective conduct ■ Respect for individuals and their freedoms www.cevroinstitut.cz Left-libertarian parties: common values ■ Self-ownership ■ property of one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to have bodily integrity, and be the exclusive controller of one's own body and life ■ Participatory democracy ■ Decentralization ■ Egalitarian redistribution ■ Collective ownership of natural resources ■ Post-material issues www.cevroinstitut.cz ■ Silent Revolution (1977) ■ Long-term surveys within electorates of Western democracies ■ Shifts towards „post-material“ values ■ Environmental protection ■ Life-style issues ■ Gender ■ Meaningful work Ronald Inglehart: postmaterial values www.cevroinstitut.cz 1.Scarcity hypothesis ■ Abraham Maslow (1954) 2.Socialization hypothesis 2 hypotheses www.cevroinstitut.cz www.cevroinstitut.cz Green Parties: Origins ■ Bottom-up trajectory ■ grassroots ■ Original agenda ■ constructions of nuclear plants, dams ■ enlarging of airport runways ■ Disarmament ■ destruction of historical sites ■ Label 'Green' derives from the 'Green Bans' ■ an Australian movement of building workers who refused to build on sites of cultural and environmental significance www.cevroinstitut.cz Major policies 1. participatory democracy 2. freedom, autonomy and individuality 3. environmental protection 4. decentralisation ■ → call for direct and participatory forms of democracy www.cevroinstitut.cz Opposition to belief: 1. possibility of continued economic growth for human purposes 2. difficulties arising from economic growth can be solved by scientific and technological means 3. environmental problems can be "managed" within the context of the existing political and societal order www.cevroinstitut.cz Green discourse ■ Ecological wisdom ■ human beings are part of the natural world ■ this world is finite ■ → unlimited material growth is impossible ■ 1983 „We have just borrowed the Earth from our kids“ www.cevroinstitut.cz Green discourse ■ Social responsibility ■Unlimited material growth is impossible ■→key to social responsibility: just distribution of social and natural resources, both locally and globally ■ Appropriate decision-making ■decisions made directly at the appropriate level by those affected www.cevroinstitut.cz Green discource: non-violence and pacifism www.cevroinstitut.cz Green discourse ■ Anti-capitalist ■ Capitalism blamed for environmental devastation www.cevroinstitut.cz Organisation ■ two-member chairmanship ■ reject centralised, bureaucratic organisations typical for mass parties ■ small local organised cores ■ weak national umbrella organisations www.cevroinstitut.cz First succees ■ 1972 – Tasmania (AUS) and New Zealand: first Green parties ■ 1972 - first green party in Europe: ■ the Popular Movement for the Environment (canton of Neuchâtel) ■ 1973 - first national green party in Europe: PEOPLE ■ Great Britain ■ 1970 - the first Green mayor in the world ■ Fons Sprangers elected in 1970 in Meer (Belgium) ■ 1977 - first political party to use the name "Green" ■ the Lower Saxon "Green List for Environmental Protection“ www.cevroinstitut.cz Electoral performance of Green parties (examples) ■ 1983 Finland and Germany first parliamentary seats ■ 1988 Sweden first parliamentary seats ■ 1995 Finland part of the ruling coalition ■ 1998 and 2021 Germany part of the ruling coalition ■ 2014 Sweden: part of the ruling coalition ■ Nowadays: common type of party across Europe www.cevroinstitut.cz Electoral success ■ Green parties - still relatively small ■ material/economic agenda prevails ■ “greening” policy agenda of other parties AUS Tasma nia 2018 NZ 2017 ICE 2017 LUX 2018 FIN 2015 GER 2017 DEN 2015 SWE 2018 10 10 6 17 15 8,5 8,9 7 4 www.cevroinstitut.cz Consequences ■ Green parties – part of mainstream ■ transcend political discourse of the conservative, liberal, and social democratic parties that dominated western democracies after WW2 ■ Agenda enlargement ■ agendas that extend well beyond the traditional boundaries of environmentalism ■ human rights, social justice, and international relations ■ At the same time: agenda of other parties affected by the green policy www.cevroinstitut.cz Green Party (Die Grünen) in Germany: 13th January 1980 in Karlsruhe ■Alliance of ecological and civic initiatives and small parties ■First green groups in the 1970s at local and regional level: environmentalists and peace activists ■organised thousands of action groups www.cevroinstitut.cz Green party in Germanny ■Opposition to ■pollution ■use of nuclear power ■NATO military action ■certain aspects of industrialised society ■+ quality of life issues www.cevroinstitut.cz Program 1980 1. Radical pacifism and anti-militarism ■ End of Cold War ■ Disarmament ■ Dissolution of NATO and the Warsaw Pact ■ Germany‘s withdrawal from NATO and abolition of Bundeswehr www.cevroinstitut.cz But… ■ 1997 against prolonging of German troops deployment in Bosna (SFOR mission) ■ 1998 coalition partner of SPD ■ 1998 for Germany‘s air-force participation on NATO air-strikes against Serbia in Kosovo ■ Later programs ■ Global responsibility ■ Support for German participation in UN missions ■ Do not deny Germany‘s membership in NATO, nor withdrawal demands www.cevroinstitut.cz Program 1980 2.Ecological demands ■Environment-friendly transportation and production ■Capitalism: Cause of the global ecological crisis www.cevroinstitut.cz German unification 1990 ■ 1990 against unification of Germany ■ Hope that the Eastern Germany shall ■ opt for a different path ■ Not adjust to Western capitalism ■ → merged with Alliance 90 only in 1993 www.cevroinstitut.cz Program 1980 3. Social and emancipation movement ■ Human rights ■ Respecting human rights presupposes disarmament, environmental protection and bridging the gap between rich and poor ■ Participatory democracy ■ People heavily involved in the decision-making process www.cevroinstitut.cz Problems 1.tension between ecological and social wings →whether economic or ecological needs should be given priority 2.“realos“ X “fundis” ■Realos ■Ecological reformism, moderate approach ■Cooperation with parliamentary parties ■Fundis ■More radical, against the system ■“Anti-Parteien-Partei“ ■No compromises ■„Street“ tactics www.cevroinstitut.cz Realos X fundis ■1983 Hessian Green Party formed a governing coalition with SPD ■hefty controversy within the party ■1983 – 1991 (Neumünster party congress) ■Era of the major conflict www.cevroinstitut.cz Fundis vs. Realos ■ conventional parliamentary strategies instead of demonstrations and petitions ■ unusual organisational rules ■ rotation principle ■ imperative mandate ■ only one office in party affairs at one time ■ partial acceptance of a salary with the rest going to the party ■ → have all turned out to be clear disadvantages www.cevroinstitut.cz Party change 1. Professionalization ■ Organizational changes ■ External professionals 2. Left-right positioning 3. Moderation ■ E.g. NATO www.cevroinstitut.cz Green Party in Sweden ■ established 1981 in Örebro ■ called the Environmental Party (Miljöpartiet) ■ 1988 “environmental” election ■ first new party to gain representation on its own list in the Riksdag since 1917 ■ background ■ 1962 Rachel Carson’s book “Silent spring” (Tyst vår) ■ 1967 Hans Palmstierna’s book “Plundering, hunger and poisoning” (Plundring, svält och förgiftning) www.cevroinstitut.cz Roots 1.nuclear energy ■ 1980 referendum on nuclear energy ■ Per Gahrton: article in Dagens Nyheter (Dags för ett nytt politiskt parti) ■criticized lack of democracy among the established parties ■environmental dimension in the Swedish party politics www.cevroinstitut.cz Nuclear energy ■ especially failure of the Centre Party ■ originally refused nuclear energy ■ eventually made a compromise and grudgingly acceded to it ■ →failure opened an ideological space for a brand new party ■ nuclear energy opposition did not succeed in the 1980 referendum www.cevroinstitut.cz Roots 2.local green parties ■ 1972: first - Partiet för miljöskydd och medbestämmde” established in Ängelholm 3.green parties in Western Europe ■ especially the Green Party in Germany www.cevroinstitut.cz Program 1993 ■ criticism of ■ industrial society’s emphasis on productivity and material growth at the expense of environment ■ unscrupulous exploitation of natural resources, environmental catastrophes and nuclear energy ■ local governance, direct democracy, decentralization ■ solidarity with animals, nature and ecological system as well as solidarity with the next generations ■ sustainable development, renewable resources, and long-term conditions for welfare www.cevroinstitut.cz Organization ■ one person may not occupy more than one post ■ 2001 rule - all party bodies have to comprise at least 40 % of women, and the goal was set to 50 % ■ Instead of party leadership four committees: ■ political committee- responsible for program work and external contacts ■ management committee (administration and organization) ■ regulation committee ■ newspaper committee ■ Since 1985 two spokesmen (one man and one woman) www.cevroinstitut.cz Breakthrough in the 1988 “protest elections” ■ 2 sets of favourable conditions 1.Good economic situation ■ unemployment practically non-existent ■ trade union wage-increase demands were satisfied ■ Political agenda opened for new issues, as the traditional socio-economic problems seemed to be settled 2.extra-ordinary attention in media channels ■ natural disasters: death of algae in the Sea and deaths of seals www.cevroinstitut.cz 1991 elections ■ economic crisis lead to decreasing importance of the green issues for voters ■ 1988: 62 % of Swedes regarded environment as the most important issue ■ 1991: number dropped to 38 % ■ most Swedes tended to mention economic and social issues (employment, health care, elderly care, Swedish economy) www.cevroinstitut.cz Voters 1988 ■ academics, white-collars, well-educated, women, students, and employees in the public sector ■ strong support in bigger cities ■ Later support in the rural areas grew stronger ■ Volatile voters