ABSTRACT
The Green party in Austria developed from several different roots. Two of these roots stem from the anti-nuclear movement of the 1970s. This movement was quite diverse and was divided into two groups. One of these groups was conservative politically and structured around a single leader, the other was more diverse and included elements of the counter culture as well as of the extreme left. After nuclear power was defeated in a referendum in 1978, the two groups organized as separate political parties for the 1983 parliamentary elections. The more conservative movement gave rise to the VGÖ (Vereinte Grüne Österreichs or United Greens of Austria), which achieved a score of 1.93 per cent. The other group organized, largely on principles of grass-roots democracy, as ALÖ (Alternative Liste Österreichs) and obtained 1.36 per cent in 1983. Neither party could secure parliamentary representation (Schandl and Schattauer 1996).2
