Green party
In contrast, formally organized Green parties may follow an ideology that includes not only environmentalism, but often also other concerns such as social justice and consensus decision-making.
The Global Greens Charter lists six guiding principles which are ecological wisdom, social justice, participatory democracy, nonviolence, sustainability and respect for diversity.
In 2001, they reached an agreement to end reliance on nuclear power in Germany, and agreed to remain in coalition and support the government of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in the 2001 Afghan War.
Green parties now exist in most countries with democratic systems, from Canada to Peru, from Norway to South Africa, from Ireland to Mongolia.
Academic research has uncovered striking international consistency in the typical demographic and attitudinal profile of Green party supporters.
In particular, Green voters tend to be young, highly educated, disproportionately female, and employed in the social and cultural services (healthcare, teaching, the arts, etc.
[6] The former two factors are believed to generate cohorts of voters with enough material security to devote their attention to 'higher' goals such as environmentalism; the latter two help raise the profile of the Green's own policy positions and statements (providing that the major parties do not act so quickly to the rising salience of environmentalism as to usurp the issue entirely and completely preempt the development of a separate ecological party).
Their supporters sometimes blame the economical system for the environmental issues neglecting any green free-market liberal capitalist alternatives.
[citation needed] Alliances often highlight strategic differences between participating in parties and advancing the values of the Green movement.
Ralph Nader, the 2000 presidential nominee of the U.S. Greens, campaigned with ultra-conservative Pat Buchanan on joint issues such as farm policy and bans on corporate funding of election campaigns, although this "alliance" between Nader and Buchanan was very specifically limited to the purpose of showing that there was broad support for certain specific issues, across the political spectrum.
[7] Their involvement in coalition governments is important in getting environmental issues on the political agenda, however they are often limited in the amount that they can succeed given they are not the majority within the alliance.
In countries following British-style 'first past the post' electoral rules, Green parties face barriers to gaining federal or provincial/regional/state seats.
The first green parties in Europe were founded in the late 1970s, following the rise of environmental awareness and the development of new social movements.
Although they did not win any seats, the groups in this association formally agreed to become a party and won a breakthrough in the German national elections of 1983.
Politically they engaged in the fight against environmental pollution, nuclear energy (1986 saw the Chernobyl disaster), the promotion of animal protection and the campaign against the demolition of Brussels by speculation fuelled by the presence of the European institutions.
The Irish Green Party is currently in government, having entered a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in June 2020, with three cabinet positions.
In the Estonia 2007 parliamentary elections, the Estonian Greens won 7.1 percent of the vote, and a mandate for six seats in the country's parliament, the Riigikogu.
In July 2024, after a targeted campaign, 4 Green MPs were elected in Bristol Central, Waveney Valley, North Herefordshire and Brighton Pavilion.
In order to agree to the coalition, Alliance 90/The Greens had 3 priorities: to reduce unemployment, close nuclear-power stations/Germany to not rely on nuclear power, and for citizenship laws to be reformed.
However, green policies were no longer considered to be a focal point so much, with unemployment growing and other economic issues being more pressing, leading to the rise of the CDU/CSU, and the eventual loss of a majority in parliament.
Prominent members include Murat Belge, left-liberal political author and columnist for Taraf; Kutluğ Ataman, filmmaker and contemporary artist; and Ufuk Uras, former Istanbul deputy and president of the Freedom and Solidarity Party.
The Greens, along with feminists, left YSGP en masse in 2016, citing its lack of democratic decision making practices.
Although Elizabeth May (the leader of the GPC from 2006 to 2019) was the first elected Member of Parliament, the first seat was gained in the House of Commons on August 30, 2008, when sitting Independent MP Blair Wilson joined the party.
[34] As of September 2020, May continues to sit as a Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands and has exerted a considerable amount of legislative influence on a number of issues ranging from denying unanimous consent for military intervention in Libya, playing a central role in exposing changes to environmental legislation hidden in the omnibus Budget Bill C-38, to introducing a private member's bill to develop a national strategy on Lyme disease.
While in office in 2003 in the New Jersey General Assembly, incumbent Matt Ahearn made a party switch to Green for the remainder of his term.
Jill Stein ran for president on the Green ticket in 2012, 2016 and 2024; the vice-presidential candidates were Cheri Honkala in 2012, Ajamu Baraka in 2016 and Butch Ware in 2024.
Stein, who received over one million votes in the 2016 race, led unsuccessful attempts toward 2016 election recounts in three states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
One of the party's founding members was the journalist and former anti-dictatorship revolutionary Fernando Gabeira, Alfredo Sirkis and Carlos Minc.
Among the main items on the Green Party's agenda are federalism, environmentalism, human rights, a form of direct democracy, parliamentarism, welfare, civil liberties, pacifism and marijuana legalization under specific conditions.
For the 2018 presidential election the party formed the coalition United to transform Brazil with the Sustainability Network (REDE), in support of the candidacy of Marina Silva in her third run for the presidency.
