GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATESBenedict Gombocz

Overview of the Green Party of the United States

• The Green Party of the United States was founded in 1991 out of the Association of State Green Parties.

• Its original goal was to assist existing state parties in growing and to advance the creation of parties in all 50 states (and D.C.) and overseas territories; assisting state parties is still its main objective.

• The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a coalition of state Green Parties.

• Dedicated to environmental wisdom, peace, social justice, and grassroots campaigning, Greens in the U.S. are bringing back democracy without the backing of business givers.

• Greens offer real solutions for real problems.

• Whether the matter is universal health care, corporate globalization, alternative energy, election reform or living wages for workers, Greens have the bravery and independence needed to battle the powerful business interests.

• The Green Party of the United States is recognized by the Federal Elections Commission as the official Green Party National Committee; its members are also members of the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas and the Global Greens.

Green Party ballot access during the 2012 presidential election

Green Party presidential candidates

• 1996 Ralph Nader

• 2000 Ralph Nader

• 2004 David Cobb

• 2008 Cynthia McKinney

• 2012 Jill Stein

Other notable environmentalist activists in politics

• Al Gore, Democratic presidential nominee in 2000 and former Vice President of the United States (1993-2001) and U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1985-1993)

• William O. Douglas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1939-1975

• Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States from 1961-1969

• Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States from 1977-1981

• Hubert H. Humphrey, Democratic presidential nominee in 1968, 38th Vice President of the United States (1965-1969) and U.S. Senator from Minnesota (1949-1964, 1971-1978)

• Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States from 1963-1969

• Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States from 1901-1909

• William H. Seward, 24th U.S. Secretary of State from 1861-1869

National Parks in the United States

History of the Green Party Globally

• The Green Party is a grassroots worldwide movement in more than 90 countries on six continents; green parties across the globe share several values, including values of ecology, justice, democracy, and non-violence.

• The first Green parties were created in Tasmania and New Zealand in 1972; green parties have since become prevalent worldwide as parties inspired and led by people who have determined that the old-fashioned parties in their own countries are not responsive to Green ideas; a new party that is needs to exist.

• The first Green elected anywhere was Helen Smith, who was elected to the Porirua City Council in New Zealand in 1973.

• Deliberating globally and acting locally, thousands of Greens have been elected to local government around the world since then, including more than 300 in the United States.

• With respect to the national level, the first Green elected was Daniel Brelaz in Switzerland in 1979; this was followed by the election of two Greens in Belgium three years later.

• 1983 saw the notable development in West Germany during the tenseness concerning the acceleration of the Cold War and the presence of U.S. nuclear missiles directed at the Soviet Union, on West German territory, when the Green Party (Bündnis ‘90/Die Grünen – Alliance 90/The Greens) gained 5.6% of the vote and 28 seats in the West German Bindestag (parliament).

• Three years later, during the height of the 1986 Chernobyl explosion, the Green Party’s reliable position against nuclear power helped their representation increase to 8.3% and 21 additional seats.

State-level representation of Alliance ‘90/The Greens, 2014

• Dark Green=in government

• Light green=in government as minor coalition partner

• Sea green=in opposition

History of the Green Party Globally – cont.

• The international success of the Greens in West Germany and elsewhere has helped inspire Greens in the United States to establish local chapters.

• The founding meeting of the Green Party of the United States took place at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota in August 1984.

• In spite of the U.S. two-party system, attendees gained strength that voters in other countries were electing Greens; combining Green values, social movements, and electoral politics might also work in the United States.

• Today, nearly 300 Greens occupy seats in national legislatures – 235 in sixteen European countries and another 51 in Australia (five), Brazil (fourteen), Mexico (22), Mongolia (one), and New Zealand (nine); there are additionally 46 Greens in the European Parliament.

• Why don’t U.S. Greens hold similar offices in similar percentages? The difference is the electoral system, not ideology. Greens are elected on the state and national level in countries that use systems of proportionate representation.

• Unlike the U.S.-style winner-take-all single-seat districts, these countries have multi-seat districts where representation is decided in accordance with the percentage of the votes cast for each party.

• If systems of proportionate representation existed in the U.S., Greens would claim their rightful place in politics as they do elsewhere in the world.

• There has hence been development on proportionate representation on the municipal and county level; U.S. Greens hope to parlay that to change up beyond.

National Committee

• The National Committee (NC), comprised of representatives from every recognized state party and identity committee, is the GPUS decision-making body.

• Currently, there are 35 recognized state parties and three accredited committees.

• Delegates to the NC and to other national commissions, like the Media Committee, are selected by every state party and caucus.

• The Green National Committee dedicates its focus to forming a national Green presence in politics and policy debate, and at the same time, continues to make party development and action at the state and local level easier.

Steering Committee

• The Steering Committee, made up of seven co-chairs, a secretary, and a treasurer, manages the main day-to-day business and operations of the GPUS.

• One has to be a current member of the National Committee at the time of nomination and/or election to be qualified to be elected co-chair.

• To be eligible to be elected Secretary or Treasurer, one has to be a member of a member state party or recognized caucus, even though he/she is not required to be a member of the NC.

• Co-chairs are elected to two-year terms, and are limited to two consecutive terms.

• In odd-numbered years, four co-chairs are elected; in even-numbered years, three are elected.

• Secretaries and treasurers serve a term of two years with no term limits.

Presidential Nominating Convention

• The delegated decision-making body, whose responsibility is to appoint the national Green Party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates and approve the Green Party’s national platform in the years when it assembles (presidential election years), is the Green Party’s presidential nominating convention.

Standing Committees

• The National Committee of the Green Party of the United States sets up standing commissions; it may, if necessary, additionally create other ad-hoc commissions.

Caucuses

• The Green National Committee recognizes Green Party Caucuses.

• Full recognition provides every caucus one representative to the Green National Committee.

• An Identity Caucus must represent a historically excluded or underrepresented and major sector of the population for it to be recognized by the Green National Committee.

• The Green Party of the United States currently recognizes these three caucuses:

• Lavender Greens Caucus (represents the LGBTIQ community)

• National Women’s Caucus

• Black Caucus

Ten Key Values of the Green Party

• 1. GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY

• 2. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

• 3. ECOLOGICAL WISDOM

• 4. NON-VIOLENCE

• 5. DECENTRALIZATION

• 6. COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMICS AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE

• 7. FEMINISM AND GENDER EQUALITY

• 8. RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY

• 9. PERSONAL AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY

• 10. FUTURE FOCUS AND SUSTAINABILITY

Sources

• Sources:• http://www.gp.org/organize/organize-kit/general-information.php

• http://www.gp.org/tenkey.php

• Caucus websites: • Lavender Greens: http://www.lavendergreens.us/

• National Women’s Caucus: http://www.gp.org/national-womens-caucus

• Black Caucus: http://www.gp.org/black-caucus

• Green Party website: • http://www.gp.org/index.php

• Green Party on the issues: • http://www.ontheissues.org/green_party.htm