The first Greens to participate in national governments came from Eastern Europe. As mentioned earlier these parties were exploited by politicians to enhance their electoral prospects and interests. The anti-communist stance of these parties added to their appeal that included a fundamental mix of moderate politics supported by a radical anti-authoritarian stance. The difference between Eastern Europe and Western Europe was in the political agendas of the parties. Eastern European Greens favoured the promotion of the free market economy and strongly rejected state intervention, while approving NATO membership. Whereas Western European Greens where characterised by their left-libertarian stance and strong anti NATO sentiment. In the case of the Ukraine, the Chernobyl disaster raised the concern over nuclear power, this enabled the Greens to participate in government, and the party leader Yuri Shcherbak was appointed environmental minister in 1991. In Slovenia an anti-nuclear movement that began in the mid 1980’s, voicing their concerns over existing nuclear plants, saw them come into power as part of a broad anti-communist alliance. Once the reality set in, Eastern European economic matters dominated the agendas of conventional politics. The appeal of the Greens faded, but they did contribute in the transition from central state planning to free market economics.

II. As “anti-parties” or “movement-parties” Green parties are opposed to “politics as usual” and attract an ideological core.

s or does its holistic nature, obstruct the prevailing interests of western capitalism? “If the western model of scientific rationalism is dominant and is supported by powerful interests, how is one to arrive at a society radically different from the present system and the intellectual enterprise supporting it?” [2]

The 1990 election result illustrated the publics concern with more pragmatic matters, rather than the ramblings and disunion of an unorganized Green party. The realists realized that reform was necessary in order to gain electoral credibility again. Simply put, the party had to have more staying power; this would involve a structural shift away from traditional values and into institutionalised politics. Again this was seen as a potential problem, because few of the electorate acknowledged the Greens as having anything significant to say about the economy. Similarly the adoption of Green politics by many mainstream parties was detrimental to the Greens hopes of success. Furthermore German participation in the NATO bombings in Serbia, 1999, and more recently the deployment of troops in the Afghanistan conflict, challenged the non-violence approach and grass root support of the Greens. The fact that they chose to remain in government resulted in them losing traditional and first time voters. This has led to the Greens being labelled as “Just another party that has adopted the capitalist consensus.”[10] Conversely there are those who have agreed that the party has developed significantly to the extent where it now wields great influence in the Bundenstag, it would be difficult to argue against this claim as the recent coalitions with the SPD have underlined the important role the Greens have in German politics.

The die Grunen party in Germany has been seen as the charismatic model of political success to which other Green parties should adhere. At present they are in a coalition government with the SPD, who depend on their support to maintain the majority party rule. The success of the German Greens was not as straightforward as it would seem. Their experiences express the paradox that many Green parties across Europe are all too familiar with. Their electoral base was forged from the strong social movements that were apparent in West-Germany from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. These social bonds carried the movement through until 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The subsequent socio-economic clima

Some topics in this essay:
VII Parties, Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, Western Europe, German Greens, Eastern European, Finland Germany, Denounced Fundamentals, European Green, Furthermore German, green parties, green politics, coalition government, green party, eastern europe, mainstream parties, ideological core, soviet union, grass root, western europe, die grunen party, green party western, late 1980’s 1990’s, collapse soviet union, party western europe,