ABSTRACT

This chapter consists of a close qualitative textual analysis of recent manifestos and press releases produced by three Western European Green parties, and it considers to what extent these documents reflect the preoccupations and emphases that have been known to mark Green party ideology. It explains the basis of author's approach via a brief analysis of the relevant literatures. The chapter studies the content of the ideology in closer detail. It suggests that one can indeed speak of Greens as forming a distinct party family, at least inasmuch as ideology is concerned. In much of Western Europe, Green parties have persisted for three decades or more. Like the German and British parties, Les Verts displays a marked radical democratic tendency. There have been some studies that draw on the results of the Comparative Manifesto Project, which provide a useful aggregate picture of where Green parties stand today.