Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Boxes
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Glossary
- 1 INTRODUCTION
- PART I THEORY: THINKING ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT
- PART II PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS: GETTING FROM HERE TO THERE
- 4 GREEN PARTIES: THE RISE OF A NEW POLITICS?
- 5 PARTY POLITICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
- 6 ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS
- PART III ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: ACHIEVING A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY
- References
- Index
5 - PARTY POLITICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Boxes
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Glossary
- 1 INTRODUCTION
- PART I THEORY: THINKING ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT
- PART II PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS: GETTING FROM HERE TO THERE
- 4 GREEN PARTIES: THE RISE OF A NEW POLITICS?
- 5 PARTY POLITICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
- 6 ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS
- PART III ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: ACHIEVING A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY
- References
- Index
Summary
KEY ISSUES
What has been the impact of the environment on party politics?
What is distinctive about green party organisation and strategy?
Has electoral success and entry to government changed green parties?
Does support for environmentalism follow partisan lines?
What factors influence the greening of established parties?
Chapter 4 charted the electoral appearance of green parties across Europe. Yet the simple fact of green representation does not guarantee any influence in the parliamentary arena, particularly as Green MPs frequently advocate radical policies and behave in unconventional ways. Where green parties gain electoral success, their political influence will partly be determined by the way they adapt to the pressures of conventional party politics. However, as green parties remain of marginal importance in most countries, for the foreseeable future much will depend on how the political elites respond to the broad environmental challenge. This chapter assesses the impact of environmental issues on party politics by looking at both these issues. The first part examines the experience of green parties in parliament by analysing how they have dealt with the transition from pressure politics to parliamentary opposition and, recently, into government, focusing primarily on the evolution of Die Grünen in Germany. The second half of the chapter uses case studies of Germany, Britain and the USA to assess how far established parties have absorbed environmental ideas and to identify the main factors shaping their responsiveness to the environmental agenda.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Politics of the EnvironmentIdeas, Activism, Policy, pp. 107 - 129Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001