The German chapter of the Green Party may be the strongest in the world – so how is it faring in numerous coalition governments? Can other countries with different political systems learn from the German experience? Craig Morris explains a new study. The German Greens – officially called “Alliance ‘90/the Greens” – are just barely alive, one might think looking at recent polls, which put the party just barely above the 5% of the vote needed to be in parliament. And aside from 1998-2005, they have never been in a coalition government, nor are they likely to be after the elections coming up this fall. So they are marginal, right? Not so fast. Look below the federal level, and the Greens are everywhere, generally as junior partners in coalitions. As the chart below shows, Merkel’s grand coalition has to anticipate the reaction of the Green Party because the Greens are in a majority of state coalition governments. To understand the chart above, it helps to know that the Bundesrat is the upper house representing the governments … Continue reading The German Greens: federal impact from the state level