This study deals with the experiences of the Greens (Die Griinen) during the 1980's as a “new” party in West German state and federal parliaments and specifically with the Green parliamentary groups' relationships with the movement-party. The founders of the Greens sought to organize as a decentralized, participatory democracy. Accordingly, they developed rules to hinder the emergence of a professionalized leadership and to restrict the autonomy of parliamentary groups. Utilizing a comparative approach, the author investigates the extent to which the Greens have become “parliamentarized” by the normalizing forces of the established system at state and federal levels. This study relates the Greens' developmental experiences to the “classic” observations of Duverger, Michels, and others about modern party development. Finally, it reviews the recent perspectives of various intraparty groups about the future of the Greens.

This article deals with the evolving role of the Greens (Die Grünen) in the West German political system. It focuses on the “parliamentarization” of the Greens in the Bundestag (federal parliament) and in the Landtage (state parliaments) of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, and Hamburg. Utilizing personal interviews, parliamentary archives, opinion polls, and party documents, it considers both the impact of the Greens upon the parliamentary system and the impact of the system upon the Greens. The study finds that, despite serious situational and organizational constraints, the Greens in these parliaments have generally been a “creative” oppositional force. However, parliamentary learning experiences have contributed inevitably to the classical dilemma confronting the Greens: How can the “alternative” party become more influential in parliamentary politics without also becoming more like the established parties?