Green Democracy: Is It Possible - Coursework Example

green democracy? is it possible? Green political parties have gained adherents by addressing and making relevant issues regarding mass pollution, environmental damage and global warming. Democracy is a system of government in which power resides with the people and is predicated on the belief that government itself is responsive to the wishes of the people. Democracy is also a process and is based on the notion that the electoral process determines who shall rule. Accordingly, there are also a variety of types of democracy. Whether a state is social democratic, liberal democratic or authoritarian with the semblance of democracy through rubber stamp elections (re: Saddam Hussein’s elections in which he would win 99.9% of the “popular” vote), there are a variety of types of democracy found throughout the world. Aiming to explore the relationship between the Green political movement and democracy, the following aims to provide a thorough and comprehensive overview of this increasingly relevant phenomenon in the 21st century. In which ways are Green political parties democratic, and in which ways are they anti-democratic? Critics argue that Green democracy is not possible and that Green political parties and the Green movement are based upon authoritarian tendencies which are not firmly entrenched within the democratic tradition. Advocates argue that Green politics can exist within the framework of deliberative democracy and a variety of important political successes have been achieved through Green democratic discourse. Seeking to address the controversial issues surrounding Green democracy the 21st century the following will explore both sides of the debate. We now turn to overview of the Green political movement (Keohane, 1979, 3-44). Introduction Traditionally, Green parties have seen themselves as historically more democratic than other political parties. Why is this the case? Many Green parties developed as grassroots organizations in a highly decentralized manner and with a quite participatory role for members. Since these parties promoted ecological development and sustainable growth, their political platforms with respect to the environmental concerns of the nation or state were self-binding, meaning that they were already established from the outset by these parties. Critics such as Saward argue that because democracy is a process and because the outcomes of a democratic competition are not known from the outset, Green parties may in fact be anti-democratic because their platforms preclude proper democratic competition. Accordingly, these political parties also propose drastic solutions which may require high handed, authoritarian, measures. How can one promote green outcomes while remaining democratic? Drawing correlations with anarchists of the 19th century, Michael Saward explores the contention that Green political parties began as anti-democratic organizations which have little regard for direct democracy. Comparing them to the "Stalins of greenery" (Saward in Dobson & Lucardie, 1993, 77), Green political parties are essentially authoritarian political movements which are more dogmatic than democratic. Michael Saward asserts that the ways in which Green political parties seek to make dramatic ecological change raises important questions about their democratic credentials. As environmental remains their first priority, Saward argues that in fact Green parties advocate an anti-democratic and illiberal form of political organization. With authoritarian tendencies and a desire to enact widespread change from above, these Green political parties may appear to have a grassroots base but in fact the change that they would like to ensure takes place may only be done through authoritarian means. Is this inherently the case? It is to this question that we now turn. Deliberative Democracy Green local parties have successfully engaged in the deliberative democratic process and have played an important role in lessening the significance of economic imperatives in the standard political discourse of the modern, developed Western world. Thus sustainability, within a democratic political framework, remains an important concern for Green political parties and political decisions should be focused upon their sustainability as opposed to the economic interests of important political actors. From this perspective then, Green democracy advocates a deliberative form of democracy which is sometimes juxtaposed with the neoliberal forms of democratic governance which pride the market and the economic conditions above all else. Accordingly, Green advocates such as Tim Hayward argue for ecological thought, which "has risen to prominence as part of a response to the problems with the human relation to nature that have become so evident in recent years." (1995, p. 8). Since the environment is shared by humanity, this scholar advocates a constitutional framework through which Green outcomes can be secured. By arguing for environmental rights, Tim Hayward believes that Green politics can be secured within the democratic political process. Green parties need necessarily not be anti-democratic and they can play an important role within the democratic process. From the perspective of international affairs, Green parties have played an important role in bringing the issue of environmental politics to the international stage. The following will explore Green democracy and the successes that it has achieved in the realm of international politics. Green Democracy on the International Stage Arguing that Green parties can only exist within a democratic political framework and that in the realm of international affairs, Green parties have done more to raise the concerns surrounding the environment than any other political movement, the following emphatically argues that Green democracy is possible and its successes international realm prove this. Green international relations theory represents an evolution of prominent international relations theories such as realism, liberalism, and constructivism, and borrows persuasively from the latter two. As an aspect of deliberative democracy, Green theory has been responsible for bringing global attention to a series of environmental concerns on the world stage (Dunne 2007, 205-258; Keohane 1989, 43-47) Accordingly, Green international theory has brought many environmental issues to the forefront of international politics. The global climate change issue, relatively unknown 30 years ago, is arguably the most important environmental issue facing the planet in the 21st century. Without Green political parties and organizations, this environmental issue would never have been popularized. Furthermore, political parties have engaged in deliberative democracy and have made this an issue of international consequence. Accordingly, “one of the innovations of Green international political economy is that it focuses as much on global consumption as global investment and production.” (Dunne 2007, 258). Global warming is an international issue with dramatic ramifications for planet Earth. The issues surround global warming are just now being understood and in conjunction with climate change, governments around the world are starting to understand the important issues caused by increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Thanks to the hard work of scientists around the world, nongovernmental organizations, and Green parties, state governments are beginning to understand the important issues surrounding international climate change. In addition, they are also starting to address these clever change issues through international agreements which aim to stop pollution in the behavior which contributes to global warming on this planet. The Kyoto Protocol is arguably the most comprehensive plan ever created to limit emissions of greenhouse gas and other major pollutants. Established in the Japanese city of Kyoto, this international agreement has been ratified by important international actors such as members of the European Union, Canada, and Japan although major pollutants such as the United States have thus far rejected the conditions of this Accord. Despite some challenges with implementation of Kyoto, this issue never would have made it to the fore of international politics without the support of Green political parties and environmentally friendly nongovernmental organizations (See Waltz, 1979). For the first time in 2002, the United States government in acknowledged that human made pollution was responsible for global warming. Although President George W. Bush has adamantly refused to partake in the Kyoto Accord and the US officially rejected this treaty in 2001, the understanding that humans have contributed to climate change was an important step in combating this important international. The US environment protection agency (EPA) sent an official report to the United Nations know edging for the first time that human activities such as car emissions, power generation and oil refining, amongst others, were responsible for international climate change and global warming. This landmark acknowledgment was the first by the worlds leading polluter and this change of heart can be tied to the persistence of advocates of Green politics, both domestically as well is on the international stage (Humans cause, 2009). As discussed above, Green politics has made significant headway with respect to raising the important issue of global climate change, both domestically and on the international stage. Green politics has also raised many other significant environmental issues and made them worthy of discussion in a variety of political theatres. Carbon footprints were a relatively unknown concept prior to political actors within the Green political movement making them worthy of attention. Sustainable economic growth and the environmental challenges facing people in the developing world, including the environmental degradation of the Canadian arctic as well as in the Amazon, have been brought to the forefront of political discourse by Green political organizations. This is an example of deliberative democracy at its best on the international stage and Green political theory has added significantly to our understanding of how the world works as well as the ways in which democratic change can be affected. Accordingly, “Green international relations theory has self-consciously sought to transcend the state-centric framework of traditional IR theory and offer new analytical and normative insights into global environmental change.” (Dunne 2007, 200-258). Concluding Remarks Green clinical parties have successfully popularized issues surrounding global warming, climate change, and environmental concern in light of centuries of human exploitation of this planet. In line with the concept of deliberative democracy, Green political movements have successfully made these issues relevant in the 21st century. Traditionally, Green parties have always seen themselves as more democratic than other political parties. Due to their grassroots nature, highly decentralized structure and participatory role for members, Green political parties evolved within a democratic political framework and successfully raised important international issues within this political system. Importantly, Green political parties have not emerged within the framework of authoritarian or communist political systems and have grown out of the liberal democratic tradition. Furthermore, Green political parties do much to promote deliberative democracy and have raised important issues of ecological development and sustainable growth on both the domestic and international stage. From this perspective then, Green democracy is real and possible within the political framework in which it emerged. Many of the successes of the Green political movement to date have been on the international stage and this form of politics transcends national barriers and boundaries. Unlike other political ideologies which such as realism and liberalism which are state centric and focus on the role of conflict, interdependence is an important concept advocated by green political parties which promotes a shared duty to respond to environmental concerns and a shared concept of humanity. REFERENCES Dunne, T 2007, International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Hayward, T, 1995, Ecological thought, Polity, London. Humans cause global warming, US admits, British Broadcasting Corporation, Viewed November 07 2009. Keohane, RO 1989, International Institutions and State Power: Essays in International Relations, Westview, Boulder. Saward, M, 1993 “Green Democracy?” in The Politics of Nature, Andrew Dobson, Paul Lucardie, Routledge, London. Waltz, K, Theory of International Politics. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1979. Read More