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Andrea Humphreys, "Die Grünen in Power: Have they Achieved their Aims?" The German Greens are a classic image of progressive politics. The world's best known green party, they are currently also the most powerful. Neither the first nor only green party in a federal coalition, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen have the most leverage, as the sole coalition partner of the Social Democrats. The federal elections in late September will mark the end of the first term of the red-green coalition, perhaps the start of a second. This paper assesses the Greens' achievements during four years in power in terms of progress made towards implementing green goals. An evaluation of green success in Germany is crucial in evaluating the progress of the green political project as a whole. The red-green coalition was conditional on SPD acceptance of Green aims for nuclear power, ecological taxation, and nationality laws. The phase-out of nuclear power is a painful compromise, the ökotax quite successful although limited, and nationality laws have been reformed. Kosovo was a serious challenge for the Greens; a pacifist and anti-NATO party sent German troops to war for the first time since 1945. In sum, the Greens have made modest progress in these three areas, but in so doing hardly resemble their original form. Biography: Andrea Humphreys is working on a PhD on the foreign policy of the German Greens, in the History Department at The University of Queensland. Her main research interests are green politics and environmental policy. |
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