To Moderate or Not: When New Politics Parties Take On Old Politics Issues

• In Event: Anti-Elite Strategies in Multi-Party Competition

Abstract

European green parties are no longer the single issue parties they once were. They take positions on issues across the spectrum; however, there is a great deal of variation across green parties on the positions they take. In this paper, we seek to understand the variation in the economic positions of green parties. We ask what explains when green parties adopt a more centrist versus a more radical position. To answer this question, we examine the evolution of green parties from 1980-2016 using the Manifestos Project data. We argue that the economic positions of the green parties can be explained by both voter, party and party system explanations, including voter position, previous vote share and the position and strategy of the other parties in the party system. This paper has important implications for understanding party evolution, multiparty competition and the effects of realignment.

Authors

• Jae-Jae Spoon, University of Pittsburgh

• Christopher J. Williams, University of Arkansas at Little Rock