ABSTRACT
The French Greens encountered early electoral success thanks to the environmentalist wave of the late 1980s. Green politicians discovered the challenges associated with their new institutional positions and it contributed to shift their views on their party's goals. As partners within Lionel Jospin's Gauche Plurielle, Les Verts gained important governmental and political experience. Les Verts were effectively giving up the belief that a cultural change would ineluctably bring them power. Les Verts anticipated that 2002 could be a turning point in their history, sealing their parliamentary and governmental future. Les Verts' disappointing legislative results have to be placed in the general context of the severe defeat of the left. Les Verts started their political career with a double challenge. The first was political and the second challenge focused on political practices as Les Verts endeavoured to create an alternative organisation.
