Managing strategic positioning choices: a reappraisal of the development paths of the French and German Green parties

To what extent have green parties been pawns of circumstance or arbiters of their own destiny? Whilst interpretations in terms of 'political opportunity structures' suggest that party development is mainly determined by external factors, detailed analysis reveals the growing significance of political agency exercised by small parties. During their history, the green parties of France and Germany have rotated through a range of positioning options and, in conditions of accelerated change within political systems, the importance of agency has increased. Reappraisal of the developmental paths of ecology parties shows that the impact of their own ability (or inability) to identify and manage strategic positioning choices may have been underestimated.