Introduction
The Green Party is perhaps the best known alternative political party [outside of the Democrats and Republicans] in the United States. Co-founded in 1984 by American activist and politician Howie Hawkins (NY), the party was originally called Green Committee of Correspondence and then eventually went on to become Greens/Green Party USA. Other surnames included the Association of State Green Parties. Since 2001, the official party name has been The Green Party of the United States. The central governing body of the party is the Green National Committee (GNC) which is comprised of delegates from affiliated and recognized state party organizations and caucuses. Day to day operations and national party functions are overseen by the GNC in conjunction with a Steering Committee.
Main body
American populist, political activist, lawyer, and author, Ralph Nader helped catapult the party into the mainstream as a Green Party candidate in 1996 and 2000 presidential campaign. Nader received 0.71% of the popular vote in 1996 election and 2.75% in 2000 election [in which he was largely accused of under-cutting Al Gore’s candidacy]. Former six-term congresswoman from Georgia, Cynthia McKinney, was the 2008 presidential Green Party nominee. Nationwide, McKinney received less than half of 1% of the popular vote. Despite having participated in four (96, 00, 04, and 08) presidential elections as well as gubernatorial and senate races, most governmental achievements for the party have been on the local/state level. John Eder (Maine Green Independent Party) served two terms (2002 and 2004) in the Maine House of Representatives. He became the second highest ranking Green elected official in the U.S. Currently, Richard Carroll (Arkansas Green Party) is the only high ranking Green Party office holder – serving in the Arkansas House of Representatives. An active third party alternative since inception, the party’s mission is congruent with international Green Parties in that environmentalism, grass roots participation/democracy , peace, non-violence, social justice, non-hierarchical participatory, and diversity constitute the ideological core.
Its viability is undermined by the political infrastructure and third party history success rate. Also at the nucleus of the original Green philosophy was the “anti-party party” idea which promotes non-partisan activism. The Green Party, in particular in the U.S., evolved from a decentralized infrastructure to a centralized structure with much emphasis now being placed on participation in the electoral campaign process. Coming under the hegemony the Federal Elections Commission diminishes their non-traditional aura. Since the 1830’s, the two party system (Democrats and Republicans) has dominated U.S. politics. The only successful effect that third parties have on national elections is direct attention to pertinent issues often overlooked by the Democrats and Republicans as well as encourage voter turnout. As witnessed by Nader, McKinney, even Ross Perot, third party candidates do not win national elections. In most instances third part candidates/nominees are excluded from major televised debates and do not receive adequate mainstream media coverage. Their ballot access is limited and most importantly, they do not have sufficient financial backing (which generally has a corrupting effect) needed to compete with the Democrats and Republicans.
Conclusion
Although The Green Party of the United States is appealing from an ecological and humanistic standpoint, I still would probably not vote for it [I definitely am not inclined to vote for the main two parties either]. It represents another shade of a political infrastructure that to date has failed to effectively deal with too many problems facing the American people. By centralizing and not adhering to the anti-party ideal, they too unfortunately may, in time, become susceptible to the corrupt influences of big money, as have the Democratic and Republican parties. Furthermore, the two party standard is deeply entrenched and American voters are so ingrained to it [even though many ideas advocated by alternative party candidates ring true- they are usually considered “unelectable” and out of the “mainstream”], that truly revolutionary change proposed by alternative parties can not succeed or be accepted in the current “mainstream” political environment.
Bibliography
“Green Party members holding elected office to the United States.” Green Party of California. 2008. Web.
“What is the history of ‘third parties’ in the United States?” Web.
The Green Party of the United States.