SERENELLA PEGNA

Le alterne fortune dei Verdi  in Europa

N. 169

Summary. — In the early ‘80, the Green Parties in Europe had a glorious time, nevertheless from those years on they have encountered increasing difficulties. Economic constraints, competition with and in some cases reabsortion by traditional parties, general disenchantment towards politics (with Green being perceived as "established" parties) general decline of party-militancy have affected European green parties. While some of them risk to reduce their function to a specialized component in mixed coalition, the German Grünen and the French Les Verts-Génération Ecologie (in their ups and downs) have reached a quasi-institutional role. Theories on "new" left-libertarian and environmentalist parties give us many suggestive tools, but no exhaustive explanation of these trends. Summary examination of shifting in class and age composition of the electorate reveals us growing difficulties in attracting the youngest voters. It is difficult to perceive the nature of voting intentions in Green Parties electoral support.

On the contrary, the analysis of the function of the new parties inside the political systems (with the difficulties of French Greens to exalt their autonomy in front of declining socialist party and the German greens becoming a deep rooted phenomenon) prove more revealing. Also perspectives on internal dynamics of the Green Parties (in which we find many symptoms of the difficult transition from a new born-emerging-party to an established and institution-oriented party) are liable to give us a richer and more interesting view of this political family.