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124-393: The Mazingira Green Party of Kenya is a Kenyan green party . It was formerly known as Liberal Party of Kenya ( LPK ). At the 1997 Kenyan General Elections LPK fielded a presidential candidate, Wangari Maathai , who later became a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Maathai was only a minor candidate. She did not win a parliamentary seat. In 2002, the next general elections were held and

248-591: A Green liberal , does not lead a Green government, but a broad coalition government in which he is the only Green minister. There is a Papua New Guinea Greens Party , but it does not have any members in Parliament. There was briefly a Green Party in Fiji from 2008 to 2013; as Parliament was suspended by the military regime during this time, the party was not able to take part in any election before all parties were deregistered in 2013. The Green Party of Lebanon

372-423: A given jurisdiction by a coalition of scientific ecologists , community environmentalists , and local (or national) leftist groups or groups concerned with peace or citizens rights. A Red-Green alliance is an alliance between Green parties and social democratic parties. Such alliances are typically formed for the purpose of elections (mostly in first-past-the-post election systems), or, after elections, for

496-486: A governing coalition, whilst the Green Party Northern Ireland has had success in the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly and local elections where the first-past-the-post system is not used. In countries where a party with similar ideals is stronger, such as Norway and Denmark, Green parties tend to perform worse. In some Eastern European countries, like Romania , Green parties are still in

620-717: A government with the largest parliamentary group - the Christian democratic GERB-SDS coalition. As mentioned above, the German green party holds strong influence in terms of green politics in Europe. The German green party: Alliance 90/The Greens ( Bündnis 90/Die Grünen ) was founded in 1993 after the West German green party (Die Grünen, formed in 1980) and the East German green party (Bündnis 90, formed in 1990) joined after

744-504: A large share of the vote (rarely polling above 10% at a national level). Their involvement in coalition governments is important in getting environmental issues on the political agenda, however they are often limited in the amount that they can succeed given they are not the majority within the alliance. Some national Green parties began forming in Africa in the 1980s and 1990s, but they often struggled to gain influence. Wangari Maathai

868-557: A member of the BSP for Bulgaria (БСП за България, БСПзБ, BSPzB) coalition. After the elections all of them got into parliament, but a government wasn't formed. After the snap election, which also didn't form a government, Volt Bulgaria left ISBG and joined the We Continue The Change (Продължаваме промяната, ПП, PP) coalition, which won the election and formed a government with BSPzB, DB and the populist ITN. ITN withdrew from

992-511: A more independent status, especially in Bavaria. However, it has no legal significance. All sixteen states are represented at the federal level in the Bundesrat (Federal Council), where their voting power depends on the size of their population. Germany is a federal , parliamentary , representative democratic republic . The German political system operates under a framework laid out in

1116-529: A party and won a breakthrough in the German national elections of 1983. They were not the first Green Party in Europe to have members elected nationally but the impression was created that they had been, because they attracted the most media attention. This was partly due to their charismatic leader Petra Kelly , a German who was of interest to the American media because she had an American step-father. Since its foundation in 1980 and merger with Alliance 90 after

1240-528: A plan to divide the German Reich into 14 roughly equal-sized states. His proposal was turned down due to opposition of the states and concerns of the government. Article 18 of the constitution enabled a new delimitation of the German territory but set high hurdles: "Three fifth of the votes handed in, and at least the majority of the population are necessary to decide on the alteration of territory". In fact, until 1933 there were only four changes in

1364-708: A predominantly environmental platform arose in the early 1970s in various parts of the world. The world's first political parties to campaign on a predominantly environmental platform were the United Tasmania Group , which contested the April 1972 state election in Tasmania , Australia, and the Values Party of New Zealand , which contested the November 1972 New Zealand general election . Their use of

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1488-628: A referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4) was abolished, which meant territorial revision was no longer possible against the will of the population affected by it. East Germany had originally consisted of five states (i.e., Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia). In 1952, these states were abolished and the East was divided into 14 administrative districts called Bezirke . Soviet -controlled East Berlin – despite officially having

1612-427: A revision, the federal government had to include the proposal into its legislation. Then a referendum was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed (paragraph 3). The proposal should not take effect if within any of the affected territories a majority rejected the change. In this case, the bill had to be introduced again and after passing had to be confirmed by referendum in

1736-429: Is referred to as "Land government" (Landesregierung) . Before 1 January 2000, Bavaria had a bicameral parliament, with a popularly elected Landtag , and a Senate made up of representatives of the state's major social and economic groups. The Senate was abolished following a referendum in 1998. The states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg are governed slightly differently from the other states. In each of those cities,

1860-670: Is sometimes propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers . In southwestern Germany, territorial revision seemed to be a top priority since the border between the French and American occupation zones was set along the Autobahn Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm (today the A8 ). Article 118 stated "The division of the territory comprising Baden , Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern into Länder may be revised, without regard to

1984-404: Is very common to use the term Bundesland (federated Land ). Officially this term Bundesland neither appears in the constitution of 1919 nor in the current one. Three Länder call themselves Freistaaten ("free states", an older German term for "republic"): Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (originally from 1919 and again since 1990), and Thuringia (since 1994). Of the 17 states at the end of

2108-470: The 2012 legislative election , in which they both won more seats than any other third party . In some countries Greens have found it difficult to win any representation in the national parliament. Three reasons can be found for this. It includes countries with a first past the post electoral system, such as the United Kingdom. However, despite the first past the post system in the United Kingdom,

2232-548: The Australian House of Representatives . Since 2004 , they have received more votes than any other third party in every federal election. They also have representation in the upper and lower houses of state parliaments of five states and in the unicameral chamber of one territory. Greens also hold representative positions in local government across New Zealand and Australia (where a number of local government authorities are controlled by Green councilors). The Greens took

2356-665: The Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation . The Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War in which Prussia defeated Austria and forced Austria to remove itself from the affairs of the German states. Territorial boundaries were essentially redrawn as a result of military conflicts and interventions from the outside: from the Napoleonic Wars to

2480-682: The Congress of Vienna , the number of territories decreased from about 300 to 39; in 1866 Prussia annexed the sovereign states of Hanover , Nassau , Hesse-Kassel , and the Free City of Frankfurt . Prussia and the other states in Northern and Central Germany united as a federal state , the North German Federation , on 1 July 1867. Four of the five southern German states (Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt) entered military alliances with Prussia but Austria did not. In

2604-772: The Deutsche Mark was introduced as legal tender in the Saarland. Paragraph 6 of Article 29 stated that, if a petition was successful, a referendum should be held within three years. Since the deadline passed on 5 May 1958 without anything happening, the Hesse state government filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1958. The complaint was dismissed in July 1961 on

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2728-773: The Ecology Party and then the Green Party . Several other local political groups were founded in the beginning of the 1970s. Fons Sprangers was probably the first Green mayor in the world, elected in 1970 in Meer, and active until 2020 for the Flemish Greens. The first political party to use the name "Green" seems to have been the Lower Saxon " Green List for Environmental Protection ", founded on 1 September 1977. The first Green Party to achieve national prominence

2852-712: The European Green Party 's withdrawal of recognition of the PVEM as a legitimate green party. States of Germany The Federal Republic of Germany , as a federal state , consists of sixteen states . Berlin , Hamburg and Bremen (with its seaport exclave , Bremerhaven ) are called Stadtstaaten (" city-states "), while the other thirteen states are called Flächenländer ("area states") and include Bavaria , Saxony , and Thuringia , which describe themselves as Freistaaten ("free states"). The Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany")

2976-604: The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, those four states joined the North German Federation which was consequently renamed to German Empire . The parliament and Federal Council decided to give the Prussian king the title of German Emperor (since 1 January 1871). The new German Empire included 25 states (three of them, Hanseatic cities) and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine . Within

3100-689: The Green Party in Ireland. In the Netherlands GroenLinks ("GreenLeft") was founded in 1990 from four small left-wing parties and is now a stable faction in the Dutch parliament. The Australian Greens supported a Labor minority government from 2010 to 2013, and have participated in several state governments. In 2022 Denmark , the Green Party The Alternative has only one Parliament member, having dropped from

3224-529: The Green Party of England and Wales won their first seat in the House of Commons when Caroline Lucas won the seat of Brighton Pavilion in 2010. In July 2024, after a targeted campaign, 4 Green MPs were elected in Bristol Central, Waveney Valley, North Herefordshire and Brighton Pavilion. The Scottish Greens have had success in the devolved Scottish Parliament having recently signed a deal to enter

3348-603: The Green Party of the United States in the U.S. Congress. Accordingly, in these countries, Green parties focus on electoral reform . In Mexico, however, the Partido Verde Ecologista , often abbreviated as PVEM, has 17 deputies and four senators in Congress as a result of the 2006 elections. Nevertheless, some of its political practices such as plead in favor of the death penalty in Mexico, led to

3472-740: The Irish Green Party , represented by six members of parliament or TDs , agreed to go into a coalition government for the first time in their history, with Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats (the Progressive Democrats later dissolved as a party, though their members remained in parliament). The Green Party held two Cabinet seats, as well as two junior ministries , until their withdrawal from government in January 2011. They lost all of their six seats in

3596-603: The North Imenti Constituency parliamentary seat. Maathai was first outvoted at the PNU primary elections and therefore vied on Mazingira ticket, but at the parliamentary elections lost again to the PNU candidate. The word Mazingira is Swahili for environment . Green party Green party platforms typically embrace social democratic economic policies and form coalitions with other left-wing parties . Green parties exist in nearly 90 countries around

3720-673: The Oder-Neisse line fell under either Polish or Soviet administration but attempts were made at least symbolically not to abandon sovereignty well into the 1960s. The former provinces of Farther Pomerania , East Prussia , Silesia and Posen-West Prussia fell under Polish administration with the Soviet Union taking the area around Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), pending a final peace conference with Germany which eventually never took place. More than 8 million Germans had been expelled from these territories that had formed part of

3844-680: The Regierender Bürgermeister (governing mayor) in Berlin. The parliament for Berlin is called the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a Bürgerschaft . The parliaments in the remaining 13 states are referred to as Landtag (State Parliament). The city-states of Berlin and Hamburg are subdivided into Districts . The City of Bremen consists of two urban districts : Bremen and Bremerhaven , which are not contiguous. In

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3968-592: The Saarland  – which later received a special status – in the French zone; Mecklenburg(-Vorpommern) , Brandenburg , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , and Thuringia in the Soviet zone . No single state comprised more than 30% of either population or territory; this was intended to prevent any one state from being as dominant within Germany as Prussia had been in the past. Initially, only seven of

4092-567: The Weimar Republic , six still exist (though partly with different borders): The other 11 states of the Weimar Republic either merged into one another or were separated into smaller entities: Some territories bordering other states were annexed to the bordering state. Also, Prussia had exclaves that were surrounded by other states. These became part of their surrounding states. All states, except Bavaria , now have territory of

4216-603: The West German constitution thus applied to the entire German people . Article 23, which had allowed "any other parts of Germany" to join, was rephrased. It had been used in 1957 to reintegrate the Saar Protectorate as the Saarland into the Federal Republic, and this was used as a model for German reunification in 1990. The amended article now defines the participation of the Federal Council and

4340-468: The reunification of Germany . in 1998, Alliance 90/The Greens joined a coalition government with the SPD , forming a Red-Green alliance that would last until 2005. In order to agree to the coalition, Alliance 90/The Greens had 3 priorities: to reduce employment, close nuclear-power stations/Germany to not rely on nuclear power, and for citizenship laws to be reformed. The coalition remained in place following

4464-556: The 16 German states in matters concerning the European Union . Article 29 was again modified and provided an option for the states to "revise the division of their existing territory or parts of their territory by agreement without regard to the provisions of paragraphs (2) through (7)". Article 118a was introduced into the Basic Law and provided the possibility for Berlin and Brandenburg to merge "without regard to

4588-540: The 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). By calling the document the Grundgesetz , rather than Verfassung (constitution), the authors expressed the intention that it would be replaced by a true constitution once Germany was reunited as one state. Amendments to the Grundgesetz generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of the parliament; the fundamental principles of

4712-515: The 1970s, and with seats on the local council, held the balance of power in the city of Liege, so were the first to go into coalition with the ruling party on that council. In 1979 political campaigns and dissident groups feeling underrepresented in west German politics formed a coalition to contest the 1979 elections to the European Parliament. Although they did not win any seats, the groups in this association formally agreed to become

4836-619: The 2002 election. However, green policies were no longer considered to be a focal point so much, with unemployment growing and other economic issues being more pressing, leading to the rise of the CDU/CSU, and the eventual loss of a majority in parliament. Greens and the Left Party of the Future is a left-libertarian and green party in Turkey. It was founded on 25 November 2012 as a merger of

4960-514: The American states and regional governments in other federations without serious calls for territorial changes" in those other countries. Arthur B. Gunlicks summarizes the main arguments for boundary reform in Germany: "the German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation and pay for it from own source revenues. Too many Länder also make coordination among them and with

5084-480: The Basic Law as a binding order. An expert commission was established, named after its chairman, the former Secretary of State Professor Werner Ernst. After two years of work, the experts delivered their report in 1973. It provided an alternative proposal for the two regions: the north and center-southwest. In the north, either a single new state consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony should be created (solution A) or two new states, one in

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5208-608: The Federal Minister of the Interior by reference to the referendum of 1951. However, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the rejection was unlawful: the population of Baden had the right to a new referendum because the one of 1951 had taken place under different rules from the ones provided for by article 29. In particular, the outcome of the 1951 referendum did not reflect

5332-399: The Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4). The reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force (paragraph 6). Article 29 states that "the division of the federal territory into Länder may be revised to ensure that each Land be of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively". In their letter to Konrad Adenauer ,

5456-625: The Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. This was in contrast to the post-war development in Austria , where the national Bund ("federation") was constituted first, and then the individual states were carved out as units of that federal nation. The German use of the term Länder ("lands") dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. Previously, the states of the German Empire had been called Staaten ("states"). Today, it

5580-549: The Federal Territory must be revised (paragraph 1). Moreover, in territories or parts of territories whose affiliation with a Land had changed after 8 May 1945 without a referendum, people were allowed to petition for a revision of the current status within a year after the promulgation of the Basic Law (paragraph 2). If at least one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections were in favour of

5704-552: The French-occupied Saar Protectorate was returned and formed into the Saarland , the Federal Republic consisted of ten states, which are referred to as the " Old States " today. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. However, it was in many ways integrated with West Germany under a special status. A new delimitation of

5828-627: The GRAEL (Green Alternative European Link) group, also known as the Rainbow Group . Politically they engaged in the fight against environmental pollution, nuclear energy (1986 saw the Chernobyl disaster), the promotion of animal protection and the campaign against the demolition of Brussels by speculation fuelled by the presence of the European institutions. After years of co-operation between

5952-420: The German reunification, Kelly's party, now named Alliance '90/The Greens , has become one of Europe's most important Green parties. It played an important role in the formation of national-level Green parties in other countries such as Spain as well. The forerunner of the Green Party in the United Kingdom was the PEOPLE Party , formed in Coventry in 1972. It changed its name to the Ecology Party in 1973 and

6076-470: The German-speaking lands for centuries and which mostly did not have sizable Polish minorities before 1945. However, no attempts were made to establish new states in these territories, as they lay outside the jurisdiction of West Germany at that time. In 1948, the military governors of the three Western Allies handed over the so-called Frankfurt Documents to the minister-presidents in the Western occupation zones. Among other things, they recommended revising

6200-501: The Green Party in 1985. In 1984 Greens agreed a common platform for the European Parliament Elections and the first Green Members of the European Parliament were elected here. Germany, a stronghold of the Green movement, elected seven MEPs; two more came from Belgium and two from the Netherlands. As those eleven MEPs did not entitle the Greens to form a parliamentary group on their own, they concluded an alliance with MEPs from Italy, Denmark, and regionalists from Flanders and Ireland to form

6324-414: The Green Party received only 16.71 percent of the vote. In the Estonia 2007 parliamentary elections , the Estonian Greens won 7.1 percent of the vote, and a mandate for six seats in the country's parliament, the Riigikogu . Other significant electoral results for European green parties include Germany's Alliance '90/The Greens in the 2002 federal election and France's Europe Ecology – The Greens in

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6448-415: The Greens Party and the Equality and Democracy Party. Prominent members include Murat Belge, left-liberal political author and columnist for Taraf ; Kutluğ Ataman, filmmaker and contemporary artist; and Ufuk Uras, former Istanbul deputy and president of the Freedom and Solidarity Party. The party is one of the participants in the Peoples' Democratic Congress, a political initiative instrumental in founding

6572-422: The MEP for Danish Socialist People's Party has left the Nordic Green Left parliamentary group and has joined the Green parliamentary group in the European parliament. The Socialist People's Party is currently an observer at the European Green Party and the Global Greens. Outside of Scandinavia, in 2004, Latvia became the first country in the world to have a Green politician become Head of Government, but in 2006

6696-441: The Maathai-led party was part of the victorious NARC coalition. Maathai herself won the Tetu Constituency parliamentary seat. At the Kenyan general election, 2007 , Mazingira was part of the newly created Party of National Unity led by President Mwai Kibaki . However, Mazingira also fielded own candidates. Mazingira won one parliamentary seat at the elections, after Silas Muriuki beat PNU candidate David Mwiraria to clinch

6820-564: The Mediterranean countries. These Green parties are now making electoral gains, e.g. in Spain, Greece and Republic of Cyprus , or getting organized to do so, e.g. in Malta . Therefore, the EGP is now turning its attention to Eastern Europe – all these countries have Green parties, but in materially poor Eastern Europe the success of Green Parties is patchy except for Hungary, where the local Green party, Politics Can Be Different (LMP), has been elected to parliament and many city councils. In 2021 Croatian local elections We can! party became

6944-443: The Nazi regime via the Gleichschaltung process, as the states administratively were largely superseded by the Nazi Gau system . Three changes are of particular note: on 1 January 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz ; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act ( Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz ) of 1937, the territory of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of

7068-471: The Peoples' Democratic Party in 2012. The Greens, along with feminists, left YSGP en masse in 2016, citing its lack of democratic decision making practices. They and a new generation of activists reestablished the Green Party (Yeşiller) in 2020. As of the 41st general election in Canada, held on May 2, 2011, there was only one federally elected member of the Green Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada , its leader Elizabeth May . However, at

7192-480: The Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein . During the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II , internal borders were redrawn by the Allied military governments. New states were established in all four zones of occupation: Bremen , Hesse , Württemberg-Baden , and Bavaria in the American zone ; Hamburg , Schleswig-Holstein , Lower Saxony , and North Rhine-Westphalia in the British zone ; Rhineland-Palatinate , Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern and

7316-401: The Saarland (solution C), the district of Germersheim would then become part of Baden-Württemberg. The other alternative was that the Palatinate (including the region of Worms ) could be merged with the Saarland and Baden-Württemberg, and the rest of Rhineland-Palatinate would then merge with Hesse (solution D). Both alternatives could be combined (AC, BC, AD, BD). At the same time,

7440-549: The United States. Alliances often highlight strategic differences between participating in parties and advancing the values of the Green movement. For example, Greens became allied with centre-right parties to oust the centre-left ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party of Mexico . Ralph Nader , the 2000 presidential nominee of the U.S. Greens , campaigned with ultra-conservative Pat Buchanan on joint issues such as farm policy and bans on corporate funding of election campaigns, although this "alliance" between Nader and Buchanan

7564-414: The Western Allies, viewed itself as part of the Federal Republic and was largely integrated and considered a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum , Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg . In 1957, the Saar Protectorate joined the Federal Republic as the state of Saarland . The next change occurred with German reunification in 1990, in which

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7688-402: The affected states, the proposals were shelved. Public interest was limited or nonexistent. The referendum in Baden was held on 7 June 1970. 81.9% of voters decided for Baden to remain part of Baden-Württemberg, only 18.1% opted for the reconstitution of the old state of Baden . The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were held on 19 January 1975 (the percentages given are

7812-447: The assembly, the first time a Green party member had held such a position in any parliament or assembly in Australia. However, they retained only one seat at the 2012 election in the same territory. The Green Confederation ( Confédération Verte ) in Vanuatu won 3 out of 52 seats in the last general election in October 2012. Its most prominent member is Moana Carcasses Kalosil , who became prime minister in March 2013. Carcasses,

7936-407: The boundaries of the West German states in a way that none of them should be too large or too small in comparison with the others. As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. Its provisions are reflected in Article 29 of the Basic Law . There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory:

8060-410: The coalition, which later lost a vote of no confidence . For the next elections in 2022, the Party of the Greens (Партия на зелените, ПнЗ, PnZ) joined the Bulgarian Rise (Български възход, БВ, BV) coalition. After a government wasn't formed another round of snap elections were called. This time PP, DB, BZNS and United Agrarians formed the PP-DB coalition which won 2nd place, but managed to agree on

8184-454: The commission developed criteria for classifying the terms of Article 29 Paragraph 1. The capacity to perform functions effectively was considered most important, whereas regional, historical, and cultural ties were considered as hardly verifiable. To fulfill administrative duties adequately, a population of at least five million per state was considered as necessary. After a relatively brief discussion and mostly negative responses from

8308-468: The configuration of the German states: the 7  Thuringian states were merged in 1920, whereby Coburg opted for Bavaria , Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1922, and Waldeck did so in 1929. Any later plans to break up the dominating Prussia into smaller states failed because political circumstances were not favourable to state reforms. After the Nazi Party seized power in January 1933, the Länder were gradually abolished and reduced to provinces under

8432-419: The consent of the federal government (Article 32 of the Basic Law). Typical treaties relate to cultural relationships and economic affairs. Some states call themselves a " free state " ( Freistaat ). It is merely a historic synonym for "republic" and was a description used by most German states after the abolishment of monarchy after World War I . Today, Freistaat is associated emotionally with

8556-401: The constituent states have certain limited powers in this area: in matters that affect them directly, the states defend their interests at the federal level through the Bundesrat ("Federal Council"), and in areas where they have the legislative authority they have limited powers to conclude international treaties "with the consent of the federal government". It was the states that formed

8680-416: The constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity. Despite the original intention, the Grundgesetz remained in effect after the German reunification in 1990, with only minor amendments. The federal constitution stipulates that the structure of each Federated State's government must "conform to

8804-432: The constitution. An appeal against the decision was rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Constitutional Court. On 24 August 1976, the binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory was altered into a mere discretionary one. Paragraph 1 of Article 29 was rephrased, with the provision that any state had to be "of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively" put first. The option for

8928-420: The development of a separate ecological party). Their supporters sometimes blame the economical system for the environmental issues neglecting any green free-market liberal capitalist alternatives. Depending on local conditions or issues, platforms and alliances may vary. In line with the goal of democracy, neighboring ecoregions may require different policies or protections. Green parties are often formed in

9052-545: The dissolution of the 41st Parliament on August 2, 2015, the Green Party of Canada held two seats in the House of Commons, the second seat belonging to formerly Independent MP Bruce Hyer who was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the NDP in 2011. Only May won re-election to the 42nd parliament . Mike Morrice was elected to the 43rd parliament, returning Greens to two seats. There remains no federal representation by

9176-468: The empire, 65% of the territory and 62% of the population belonged to the state of Prussia. After the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles , the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation. The debate on a new delimitation of the German territory started in 1919 as part of discussions about the new constitution. Hugo Preuss , the father of the Weimar Constitution , drafted

9300-485: The environmental issue. The former two factors are believed to generate cohorts of voters with enough material security to devote their attention to 'higher' goals such as environmentalism; the latter two help raise the profile of the Green's own policy positions and statements (providing that the major parties do not act so quickly to the rising salience of environmentalism as to usurp the issue entirely and completely preempt

9424-647: The executive branch consists of a Senate of approximately eight, selected by the state's parliament; the senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger states. The equivalent of the minister-president is the Senatspräsident (president of the senate), also commonly referred to as Bürgermeister (Mayor) in Bremen, the Erster Bürgermeister (first mayor) in Hamburg, and

9548-456: The federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the minister-president is then chosen by a majority vote among the Landtag ' s members. The minister-president is typically the head of the biggest party of a coalition. The minister-president appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of

9672-487: The federal territory has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949 and even before. Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics ( Werner Rutz , Meinhard Miegel , Adrian Ottnad , etc.) and politicians ( Walter Döring , Hans Apel , and others) made proposals – some of them far-reaching – for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions. Territorial reform

9796-412: The federation more complicated." But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception. Federalism has a long tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states , numbering more than 300 in around 1796. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). After

9920-412: The federation. The states retain residual or exclusive legislative authority for all other areas, including culture, which in Germany includes not only topics such as the financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training (see Education in Germany ). Though international relations including international treaties are primarily the responsibility of the federal level,

10044-446: The five " New States " on 3 October 1990. The former district of East Berlin joined West Berlin to form the new state of Berlin. Henceforth, the 10 "old states" plus 5 "new states" plus the new state Berlin add up to current 16 states of Germany. After reunification, the constitution was amended to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved the unity of Germany in free self-determination and that

10168-772: The following month's general election , but won two in the 2016 general election , and twelve seats in the 2020 general election , and entered government again in June 2020. In the Czech Republic , the Green Party was part of the governing coalition, together with the conservative Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the Christian Democrats (KDU–ČSL) from January 2007 until the government collapsed in March 2009. Green parties often have to join coalitions/alliances with other parties within parliament as they rarely get

10292-409: The former Free State of Prussia. Other former Prussian territories lying east of the rivers Neisse and Oder were lost in 1945 and are now part of Poland or Russia . They are Silesia (Upper and Lower), Pomerania, West Prussia-Posen, and East Prussia respectively. Possible boundary changes between states continue to be debated in Germany, in contrast to how there are "significant differences among

10416-903: The fourth largest party in the European Parliament. While on many issues European Greens practice the same policies, one issue divides European Green parties: the European Union. Some Green parties, like the Dutch GreenLeft , the Green Party of England and Wales , the Swiss Green Party , the Irish Green Party and the German Alliance '90/The Greens , are pro-European while some, like the Green party in Sweden , are moderately eurosceptic . Some Green parties have been part of governing coalitions. The first one

10540-638: The government of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in the 2001 Afghan War . This put them at odds with many Greens worldwide. In Finland , in 1995, the Finnish Green Party was the first European Green party to be part of a national Cabinet. Other Green parties that have participated in government at national level include the Groen! (formerly Agalev) and Ecolo in Belgium , The Greens in France and

10664-586: The grounds that Article 29 had made the new delimitation of the federal territory an exclusively federal matter. At the same time, the Court reaffirmed the requirement for a territorial revision as a binding order to the relevant constitutional bodies. The grand coalition decided to settle the 1956 petitions by setting binding deadlines for the required referendums. The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were to be held by 31 March 1975, and

10788-609: The largest political party in the Zagreb Assembly , winning 23 seats in total. Their mayoral candidate Tomislav Tomašević won a landslide victory on 31 May. In 2021, after anti-government protests in Bulgaria, Volt Bulgaria became a member of the Stand Up! Mafia Out! alliance. Green Movement (ZD) also became a member of an anti-corruption coalition - Democratic Bulgaria (DB) . Eco Voice (Ecoglasnost/Екогласност) remained

10912-711: The name 'Green' derived from the 'Green Bans' : an Australian movement of building workers who refused to build on sites of cultural and environmental significance. The first green party in Europe was the Popular Movement for the Environment, founded in 1972 in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel . The first national green party in Europe was PEOPLE , founded in Britain in February 1973, which eventually turned into

11036-561: The national Green parties, they formed a pan-European alliance that unites most European Green parties. The Greens are a party within the European parliament with 46 seats, as of June 2009. It has a long-standing alliance with the European Free Alliance (EFA), an alliance of "stateless nations", such as the Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru and Scottish National Party . Together European Green Party/EFA have 58 seats and they are

11160-511: The necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners voted in favour. Federalism is one of the entrenched constitutional principles of Germany . According to the German constitution , some topics, such as foreign affairs and defence, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and

11284-547: The northeast consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and the northern part of Lower Saxony (from Cuxhaven to Lüchow-Dannenberg ) and one in the northwest consisting of Bremen and the rest of Lower Saxony (solution B). In the center and southwest, one alternative was that Rhineland-Palatinate (with the exception of the Germersheim district but including the Rhine-Neckar region) should be merged with Hesse and

11408-421: The percentages of those eligible who voted in favour): The votes in Lower Saxony were successful as both proposals were supported by more than 25% of eligible voters. The Bundestag, however, decided that both Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe should remain part of Lower Saxony. The justification was that a reconstitution of the two former states would contradict the objectives of paragraph 1 of article 29 of

11532-523: The post ' electoral rules, Green parties face barriers to gaining federal or provincial/regional/state seats. The Australian Labor Party 's practice of allocating a portion of ALP ticket votes to Australian Greens has helped bring AG candidates into parliament. In the 2008 ACT election in Australia, the Greens won 15.6% of the vote, winning 4 out of 17 seats. Shane Rattenbury was elected the speaker of

11656-407: The pre-War states remained: Baden (in part), Bavaria (reduced in size), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (enlarged), Saxony, and Thuringia. The states with hyphenated names, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt, owed their existence to the occupation powers and were created out of mergers of former Prussian provinces and smaller states. Former German territory that lay east of

11780-439: The presented electoral or political districts. But that does not apply universally: The Green Party of Alaska is organized along bioregional lines to practice bioregional democracy . Academic research has uncovered striking international consistency in the typical demographic and attitudinal profile of Green party supporters. In particular, Green voters tend to be young, highly educated, disproportionately female, and employed in

11904-568: The previous nine, and five local parliaments members. In 2022 Portugal , the Green Party People-Animals-Nature also has only one Parliament member, having dropped from the previous four, and another in the Madeira Regional Parliament, while its two other Green parties, Partido da Terra and Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes" , only have, respectively, two councilpeople and one mayor. Around

12028-478: The principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28). Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a Ministerpräsident (minister-president), together with a unicameral legislative body known as the Landtag (State Diet ). The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their legislative and executive branches mirrors that of

12152-634: The process of formation and have therefore not gained enough support. In Poland the Green Party, registered in 2004, won their first three seats in the Sejm in 2019. The Green Party of Bulgaria is a part of the left-wing Coalition for Bulgaria , currently in opposition. It has no parliamentary representation but it did supply one Deputy Minister in the government of Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev from 2005 to 2009. The European Green Party has worked to support weak Green parties in European countries. Until recently, they were giving support to Green parties in

12276-470: The provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the Länder concerned. If no agreement is reached, the revision shall be effected by a federal law, which shall provide for an advisory referendum." Since no agreement was reached, a referendum was held on 9 December 1951 in four different voting districts, three of which approved the merger ( South Baden refused but was overruled, as the result of total votes

12400-467: The provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the two Länder with the participation of their inhabitants who are entitled to vote". A state treaty between Berlin and Brandenburg was approved in both parliaments with the necessary two-thirds majority, but in a popular referendum of 5 May 1996, about 63% voted against the merger. The German states can conclude treaties with foreign countries in matters within their own sphere of competence and with

12524-639: The public support of Federal German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany. On 27 October 1956, the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to join Germany, as provided by the German constitution. Saarland became part of Germany effective 1 January 1957. The Franco-Saarlander currency union ended on 6 July 1959, when

12648-638: The purpose of forming a government. Some Greens, such as those in Hawaii , find more effective alliances with more conservative groups (Blue-Green alliance) or indigenous peoples – who seek to prevent disruption of traditional ways of life or to save ecological resources they depend on. Although Greens find much to support in fostering these types of alliances with groups of historically different backgrounds, they also feel strongly about forming diverse communities through encouragement of diversity in social and economic demographics in communities, especially in

12772-535: The referendum in Baden was to be held by 30 June 1970. The threshold for a successful vote was set at one-quarter of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections. Paragraph 4 stated that the vote should be disregarded if it contradicted the objectives of paragraph 1. In his investiture address, given on 28 October 1969 in Bonn, Chancellor Willy Brandt proposed that the government would consider Article 29 of

12896-663: The ruling coalition. In Scandinavia, left-wing socialist parties have formed the Nordic Green Left Alliance . These parties have the same ideals as European Greens. However, they do not cooperate with the Global Greens or European Greens, but instead form a combined parliamentary group with the Party of the European Left , which unites communists and post-communists. There is one exception, in 2004

13020-490: The same status as West Berlin – was declared East Germany's capital and its 15th district. The debate on territorial revision restarted shortly before German reunification . While academics (Rutz and others) and politicians (Gobrecht) suggested introducing only two, three, or four states in East Germany, legislation reconstituted the East German states in an arrangement similar to that which they had had before 1952, as

13144-812: The seat of Melbourne from the Australian Labor Party in 2010 with candidate Adam Bandt . This was the first time the Greens have won a Lower House seat at a general election (although they have previously won two seats at by-elections). Proportional representation in the Australian Senate and in New Zealand has strengthened the position of the Australian Greens and the Green Party of New Zealand and enabled them to participate directly in legislatures and policy-making committees. In countries following British-style ' first past

13268-491: The social and cultural services (healthcare, teaching, the arts, etc.), whilst also displaying above-average levels of environmentalism and social liberalism, as well as being left-leaning. Additionally, Green parties also tend to attract greater levels of support in countries defined by high levels of economic development and low levels of unemployment, as well as the presence of tangible environmental disputes (such as nuclear power production) and active major party competition on

13392-462: The state's government. Like in other parliamentary systems, the legislature can dismiss or replace the minister-president after a successful no-confidence vote . The governments in Berlin , Bremen and Hamburg are referred to as " senates ". In the free states of Bavaria and Saxony , the government is referred to as "state government" (Staatsregierung) ; and in the other states, the government

13516-481: The territory of the former German Democratic Republic ( East Germany ) became part of the Federal Republic, by accession of the re-established eastern states of Brandenburg , Mecklenburg-West Pomerania ( Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ), Saxony ( Sachsen ), Saxony-Anhalt ( Sachsen-Anhalt ), and Thuringia ( Thüringen ), and the reunification of West and East Berlin into a city state. A referendum in 1996 to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg failed to reach

13640-484: The three western military governors approved the Basic Law but suspended Article 29 until such time as a peace treaty should be concluded. Only the special arrangement for the southwest under Article 118 could enter into force. Upon its founding in 1949, West Germany thus had eleven states. These were reduced to nine in 1952 when three south-western states ( South Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern , and Württemberg-Baden ) merged to form Baden-Württemberg . From 1957, when

13764-423: The wishes of the majority of Baden's population. The two Palatine petitions (for a reintegration into Bavaria and integration into Baden-Württemberg) failed with 7.6% and 9.3%. Further requests for petitions (Lübeck, Geesthacht, Lindau, Achberg, and 62 Hessian communities) had already been rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Minister of the Interior or were withdrawn as in the case of Lindau. The rejection

13888-428: The world, individuals have formed many Green parties over the last thirty years. Green parties now exist in most countries with democratic systems, from Canada to Peru , from Norway to South Africa , from Ireland to Mongolia . There is Green representation at national, regional and local levels in many countries around the world. Most of the Green parties are formed to win elections, and so organize themselves by

14012-644: The world, many of which are members of Global Greens . There are distinctions between "green" parties and "Green" parties. Any party, faction , or politician may be labeled "green" if it emphasizes environmental causes. In contrast, formally organized Green parties may follow an ideology that includes not only environmentalism , but often also other concerns such as social justice and consensus decision-making . The Global Greens Charter lists six guiding principles which are ecological wisdom, social justice, participatory democracy, nonviolence, sustainability and respect for diversity. Political parties campaigning on

14136-429: Was a long-term supporter of the social-democratic minority government until the election 2006 when the social-democratic party lost. The Irish Green Party is currently in government , having entered a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in June 2020, with three cabinet positions. It was previously in a coalition government with Fianna Fáil from 2007 until January 2011 when the party withdrew their support for

14260-603: Was appointed Minister for Ecology in 2012. Green parties have achieved national or state parliamentary representation in New Zealand , Australia and Vanuatu . In New Zealand the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand currently holds 15 seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives after the 2023 general election . The Australian Greens hold 11 seats in the Australian Senate and 4 seats in

14384-609: Was confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court in the case of Lübeck. In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but on 23 October 1955 in the Saar Statute referendum the Saar electorate rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite

14508-673: Was created in 1949 through the unification of the three western zones previously under American, British, and French administration in the aftermath of World War II . Initially, the states of the Federal Republic were Baden (until 1952), Bavaria (in German: Bayern ), Bremen , Hamburg , Hesse ( Hessen ), Lower Saxony ( Niedersachsen ), North Rhine-Westphalia ( Nordrhein-Westfalen ), Rhineland-Palatinate ( Rheinland-Pfalz ), Schleswig-Holstein , Württemberg-Baden (until 1952), and Württemberg-Hohenzollern (until 1952). West Berlin , while still under occupation by

14632-411: Was decisive). On 25 April 1952, the three former states merged to form Baden-Württemberg. With the Paris Agreements in 1954, West Germany regained (limited) sovereignty. This triggered the start of the one-year period as set in paragraph 2 of Article 29. As a consequence, eight petitions for referendums were launched, six of which were successful: The last petition was originally rejected by

14756-520: Was founded in 1996. It is a small party which have often associated with Democratic Progressive Party , a major political party in Taiwan. The first green parties in Europe were founded in the late 1970s, following the rise of environmental awareness and the development of new social movements . Green parties in Belgium first made a breakthrough. Belgium had Green members of parliament elected first in

14880-650: Was founded in 2008 as a secular party. Its first president was Philippe Skaff, CEO of Grey Advertising. The party debuted with the May 2010 municipal elections. In 2011, the party became the first political party in Lebanon to elect a female leader when Nada Zaarour was elected its president. The Green Party of Pakistan was founded in 2002, and the Green Party of Saudi Arabia emerged 2010. However, due to political repression, some South and Southwest Asian Green parties are underground organizations. The Green Party Taiwan

15004-887: Was perhaps the most prominent and successful member of a Green party in Africa: after founding the Green Belt Movement and the Mazingira Green Party of Kenya , she was elected to the Kenyan Parliament in 2002, became an assistant minister for Environmental and Natural Resources, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. Other African Green parties that have achieved parliamentary representation include Les Verts Fraternels of Mauritius , and Frank Habineza 's Democratic Green Party of Rwanda . In Senegal , Green party leader Haïdar el Ali

15128-664: Was the German Green Party , famous for their opposition to nuclear power , as well as an expression of anti-centralist and pacifist values traditional to greens. They were founded in 1980 and have been in coalition governments at state level for some years. They were in federal government with the Social Democratic Party of Germany in a so-called Red-Green alliance from 1998 to 2005. In 2001, they reached an agreement to end reliance on nuclear power in Germany, and agreed to remain in coalition and support

15252-901: Was the Finnish Green League that entered government in 1995. The Italian Federation of the Greens , the French Greens , the German Alliance '90/The Greens and both Belgian Green parties, the French-speaking Ecolo and the Dutch-speaking Agalev were part of government during the late 1990s. Most successful was the Latvian Green Party , who supplied the Prime Minister of Latvia in 2004. The Swedish Green Party

15376-495: Was very specifically limited to the purpose of showing that there was broad support for certain specific issues, across the political spectrum. U.S. Greens grew dramatically throughout 2001. However, stable coalitions (such as that in Germany) tend to be formed between elections with left-wing parties on social issues, and 'the grassroots right' on such issues as irresponsible corporate subsidies and public ethics. On 13 June 2007,

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