The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a national US-American political party founded in 1991 as a voluntary association of state green parties. With its founding, the Green Party of the United States became the primary national Green organization in the United States, eclipsing the Greens/Green Party USA, which emphasized non-electoral movement building. The Association of State Green Parties (ASGP), a forerunner organization, first gained widespread public attention during Ralph Nader's United States presidential campaigns in 1996 and 2000.

The Green Party in the United States has won elected office at the local level; most winners of public office in the United States who are considered Greens have won nonpartisan elections.^[1] The highest-ranking Greens ever elected in the nation were: John Eder, a member of the Maine House of Representatives until his defeat in November 2006; Audie Bock, elected to the California State Assembly in 1999 but switched her registration to Independent seven months later^[2] running as an independent in the 2000 election;^[3] and Richard Carroll, elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 2008 but switched parties to become a Democrat five months after his election.^[4] In 2005, the Green Party had 305,000 registered members in states allowing party registration, and tens of thousands of members and contributors in the rest of the country.^[5]

Ideology[link]

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The Green Party of the United States of America emphasizes environmentalism, non-hierarchical participatory democracy, social justice, respect for diversity, peace and nonviolence. Their "Ten Key Values,"^[6] which are described as non-authoritative guiding principles, are as follows:

1. Grassroots democracy
2. Social justice and equal opportunity
3. Ecological wisdom
4. Nonviolence
5. Decentralization
6. Community-based economics
7. Feminism and gender equality
8. Respect for diversity
9. Personal and global responsibility
10. Future focus and sustainability

The Green Party does not accept donations from corporations. Thus, the party's platforms and rhetoric critique any corporate influence and control over government, media, and American society at large.

History[link]

Early years[link]

GPUS is descended of The Green Committees of Correspondence (GCoC), a decentered network of green organizations formed by members of the North American Bioregional Congress in the early 1980s. During the 1980s, the GCoC evolved from a network to a formal organization under the name The Greens, and established a national clearinghouse, national council, and annual national congress. adopted the name The Greens/Green Party USA in 1991 with the merging of the electoral and non-electoral wings of the organization.

The political movement that began in 1984 as the decentralized Committees of Correspondence^[7] (GCoC) evolved into a more centralized structure by 1990, opening a national clearinghouse, and forming governing bodies, bylaws, and a platform under the name The Green Committees of Correspondence (GCoC) and by 1990, simply, The Greens. The organization conducted non-electoral grassroots organizing efforts, educational activities, and electoral campaigns.

Internal divisions arose between members who saw electoral politics as ultimately corrupting and supported the notion of an "anti-party party" formed by Petra Kelly and other leaders of Die Grünen in Germany,^[8] vs. those who saw electoral strategies as a crucial engine of social change (organized as The Green Politics Network in 1990 and The National Association of Statewide Green Parties by 1994). A struggle for the direction of the organization culminated a "compromise agreement," ratified in 1991 at the Greens National Congress in Elkins, West Virginia – in which both strategies would be accommodated within the same organization under a 527 political organization renamed The Greens/Green Party USA.

The compromise agreement subsequently collapsed and two Green Party organizations have co-existed in the United States since the mid-1990s, now operating independently as The Green Party USA and the U.S. Green Party.

[edit] Fund raising and position on super PACs

Member Joe Garecht stated the Green Party's position is to know and follow the laws and regulations of the area. ^[9] Candidates for office, like Jill Stein who is running to become the party's 2012 presidential contender, relies on smaller donations.^[10]

Structure and composition[link]

Committees[link]

The Green Party has two national committees recognized by the Federal Election Commission:

• the Green National Committee (GNC)
• the Green Senatorial Campaign Committee (GSCC)^[11]

Green National Committee[link]

The Green National Committee is the central governing body of the Green Party of the United States. The GNC is composed of delegates from each of the affiliated state party organizations and from recognized caucuses. The GNC oversees all national party functions and elects a Steering Committee to oversee day-to-day operations.

Steering Committee[link]

The Steering Committee is composed of seven Co-chairs together with the Secretary and Treasurer. The Co-chairs of the Green Party of the United States are currently (2010 December): Theresa El-Amin (NC), Mike Feinstein (CA), Farheen Hakeem (MN), Julie Jacobson (HI), Jason Nabewaniec (NY), David Strand (MN), and Craig Thorsen (CA). They are elected from the delegates who serve on the Green National Committee. The Secretary is Holly Hart (IA). The Treasurer is Jeff Turner (HI).

Standing committees[link]

The GNC has several standing committees:^[12]

Caucuses[link]

Three identity caucuses have achieved representation on the GNC:

• Black Caucus^[13] - Acting Co-Chairs: Alfred Molison, Martina Robinson
• Lavender Greens^[14] (LGBTIQ)- Chair: Jason Jones
• Women's Caucus^[15] - Co-Chairs: Nan Garrett, Sylvia Inwood

Three other caucuses are working toward formal recognition by the GNC:

• Disability Caucus^[16]
• Latino Caucus
• Youth Caucus^[17]

The Blue Greens (workers' caucus) and the Native American caucus also exist, but have not established organizing committees as of yet.^{[citation needed]}

State parties[link]

bl - achieved 2008 ballot line
na - not yet affiliated with the national, Green Party US ^[18]
ci - currently inactive

Geographic distribution[link]

The Green Party has shown its strongest popular support on the Pacific Coast, Upper Great Lakes, and northeastern United States, as reflected in the geographical distribution of Green candidates elected.^[70] Californians have elected 55 of the 226 office-holding Greens nationwide as of June 2007. Other states with high numbers of Green elected officials include Pennsylvania (31), Wisconsin (23), Massachusetts (18), and Maine (17). Maine has the highest per capita number of Green elected officials in the country, and the largest Green registration percentage with more than 29,273 greens comprising 2.95% of the electorate as of November 2006.^[71] Madison, Wisconsin, is the city with the most Green elected officials (8) followed by Portland, Maine, with (7).

One challenge that the Green Party (as well as other third parties) faces is the difficulty of overcoming ballot access laws in many states. This has prevented the Green Party from reaching a point of critical mass in party-building momentum in many states.

Office holders[link]

John Eder, elected in Maine in 2002, was the first Green Party candidate elected to a state legislature to serve a full term as a Green.

Musician Jello Biafra ran for several offices with the Green Party, including for President in 2000.

Malik Rahim, former Black Panther Party activist, ran for the U.S. Congress in 2008 with the Green Party.

Psychiatrist Joel Kovel ran for the Green Party's presidential nomination in 2000.

As of May 6, 2012, there were 133 elected Greens across the United States.^[72] Positions held varied greatly, from mayor to city council, school board to sanitation district. Twenty-three states had Greens elected at the municipal level, representing every region of the country except for East South Central. Greens held mayorships in California and New York, and positions on city, neighborhood, or common councils in the West, South, Midwest, and Northeast. Major cities with a Green presence were spread throughout the country and included Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, and Washington, DC.

The most notable highlight from the list of currently elected Greens is Gayle McLaughlin, currently serving her second term as mayor of Richmond, California. McLaughlin defeated two Democrats in 2006 to become mayor,^[73] and in 2010 again prevailed in a three-way race.^[74] Richmond, with a population of over 100,000 people, is the largest city in the country with a Green mayor.

Presidential tickets[link]

• 1996: Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke 685,128 votes
• 2000: Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke 2,882,000 votes
• 2004: David Cobb and Pat LaMarche 119,859 votes
• 2008: Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente 161,603 votes ^[75]

List of national conventions/meetings[link]

• 1996 – Los Angeles, CA
• 2000 – Denver, CO
• 2001 – Santa Barbara, CA
• 2002 – Philadelphia, PA
• 2003 – Washington, DC
• 2004 – Milwaukee, WI
• 2005 – Tulsa, OK
• 2006 – Tucson, AZ
• 2007 – Reading, PA
• 2008 – Chicago, IL
• 2009 – Durham, NC
• 2010 – Detroit, MI
• 2011 - Alfred, NY
• 2012 - Baltimore, MD

See also[link]

• Greens/Green Party USA
• Worldwide green parties
• List of political parties in the United States
• California Green Archives
• Jello Biafra
• Audie Bock
• Peter Camejo
• Ben Chipman
• David Cobb
• John Eder
• Mike Feinstein
• Matt Gonzalez
• Daniel Hamburg
• Howie Hawkins
• Jesse Johnson
• Joel Kovel
• Pat LaMarche
• Ben Manski
• David McReynolds
• Gayle McLaughlin
• Brent McMillan
• Ross Mirkarimi
• Malik Rahim
• Kent Warner Smith
• Dona Spring
• Charlene Spretnak

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (August 2010)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Green Party of the United States

• Official website
• Green Party on Facebook
• Green Party on Twitter
• Green Party's channel on YouTube
• Green Party Ballot Status and Voter Registration Totals
• Green Senatorial Campaign Committee (GSCC)
• National Lavender Greens Caucus (GLBTIQ)
• National Women's Caucus (NWC)
• Disability Caucus Identity Caucus of the United States Green Party
• California Green Archives
• 2004 Green Party Platform pdf
• The Real Difference - comparison of Green Party positions with other Parties

Explanations of the ten key values

• Ten Key Values of the Green Party
• Global Greens' charter
• California Green Party's Ten Key Values
• Radical Middle Newsletter's historical intro. & early version