Alliance 90/The Greens in East Germany: From Vanguard to Insignificance?

In: Party politics: an international journal for the study of political parties and political organizations, Band 4, Heft 1, S. 33-55

Abstract

In the process of German unification, virtually all relevant West German political organizations quickly merged with their respective counterparts in the East. This was usually achieved through the transfer of the West German model to the new all-German organization. As often, the Greens were an exception, because they had, in a way, two counterparts in the East; that is, the East German Green Party and the Alliance 90, which had grown out of the citizens' movements. When fusion was finally completed in May 1993, the new party Alliance 90/The Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), prided itself on being the only political party that had accomplished unification on the basis of equality and respect for specific East German concerns. Based on an analysis of the organizational and political situation within the East German Land party organizations, this article discusses whether Alliance 90/The Greens have actually managed to realize the ideal of an equal partnership between East and West.