Institutionalisation without voters: the Green Party in Poland in comparative perspective

Abstract

Despite severe degradation of the natural environment in Central and Eastern European countries under communist rule and its large mobilizing potential in the 1990s, only in a few of these countries did Green parties rise to long-term relevance for the political system. The economic, social and political legacies of the communist regimes influenced the majority of successful Green parties in the region to adopt a centrist (Czech Republic) or right-wing (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) approach. In this context, I analyse the process of institutionalisation of the Green Party in Poland, closest among the CEE Green parties to the left-libertarian model dominant in Western Europe, and compare it with other Green parties in the region. I demonstrate how the support of the European Green Party has allowed the party to survive and partially institutionalise, but it has not been sufficient to ensure political success.