Green Party of the United States
The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a federation of Green state political parties in the United States.[14] The party promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism; nonviolence; social justice; participatory democracy; grassroots democracy; anti-war; anti-racism; eco-socialism. On the political spectrum, the party is generally seen as left-wing.[7] As of 2023, it is the fourth-largest political party in the United States by voter registration, behind the Libertarian Party.[15]
Green Party of the United States
April 2001
6411 Orchard Avenue, Suite 101, Takoma Park, Maryland 20912
Green Pages
Young Ecosocialists[1]
National Women's Caucus[1]
Lavender Greens[1]
Latinx Caucus[1]
National Black Caucus[1]
239,474 [3]
São Paulo Forum (applicant)[11]
Global Greens
(associate member)
The direct predecessor of the GPUS was the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP). In the late 1990s, the ASGP, which formed in 1996,[16] had increasingly distanced itself from the Greens/Green Party USA (G/GPUSA),[17] America's then-primary green organization which had formed in 1991 out of the Green Committees of Correspondence (CoC), a collection of local green groups active since 1984.[18] In 2001, the GPUS was officially founded as the ASGP split from the G/GPUSA. After its founding, the GPUS soon became the primary national green organization in the country, surpassing the G/GPUSA. John Rensenbrink and Howie Hawkins were co-founders of the Green Party.[19][20]
The Greens (as ASGP) first gained widespread public attention during the 2000 presidential election, when the ticket composed of Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke won 2.7% of the popular vote, raising questions as to whether they spoiled the election in favor of George W. Bush.[21][22][23][24] Nader has dismissed the notion that he and other Green candidates are spoilers.[25]
Criticism and controversies[edit]
"Playing spoiler"[edit]
Some political analysts argue that the party's tickets have resulted in elections being spoiled for the Democratic Party, with Republican candidates winning – most notably George W. Bush's defeat of Al Gore in 2000[21][22][23][24] and Donald Trump's victory in 2016.[52] In 2019, former Green presidential candidate Ralph Nader told The Washingtonian that, while he still does not consider himself a spoiler, he regretted not entering the 2000 Democratic primary.[53] A 2020 The New York Times article highlighted previous efforts by members of the Republican Party to use the Green Party to spoil elections in their party's favor.[54]
Russia[edit]
The United States Senate's probe into Russian election interference investigated Jill Stein and the Green Party for potential collusion and looked to better understand why and how Russia was promoting the party.[55] Politico and Newsweek reported that Russian state actors covertly promoted Stein and other Green Party candidates on Facebook prior to the 2016 elections.[52][56] NBC News reported that a "growing body of evidence [exists] that [shows] the Russians worked to boost the Stein campaign as part of the effort to siphon support away from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and tilt the election to Trump."[55] NBC News additionally documented over 100 instances where Stein appeared on Russian state media, receiving favorable coverage.[55] In 2015, Stein was photographed dining at the same table as Russian president Vladimir Putin at the RT 10th anniversary gala in Moscow, leading to further controversy.[55] Stein contended that she had no contact with Putin at the dinner and described the situation as a "non-event".[57]
Stein's 2016 foreign policy positions regarding Russian topics have been considered by some to have mirrored those of the Russian government, in some instances, including concerning the annexation of Crimea.[55][56] Stein condemned Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but claimed that Russia was provoked by NATO's eastward expansion.[58]
Allegations of irregularities in primary elections[edit]
On October 16, 2019, a joint candidate letter called for reform in the Green Party's presidential primary process in response to the party's announcement that it would remove unrecognized candidates from its website list that November, an effort which Green candidates claimed was being to done to help the Hawkins campaign secure the party's nomination.[59] This was followed by allegations of conflicts of interest among the party's leadership, members of which the candidates believed were helping party co-founder Howie Hawkins, and of an alleged overlooking of a violation of Green Party rules that would have disqualified Hawkins from running as a Green, due to him also seeking the Socialist Party's nomination.[59]
After the 2020 Green Party Nominating Convention named Hawkins as their presidential candidate, runner-up Dario Hunter announced via Twitter that he would continue to pursue the presidency as an independent candidate.[60] Hunter cited alleged irregularities and undemocratic processes throughout the Green Party presidential primary, stating that party leaders had committed “ethical lapses” to ensure Hawkins nomination, and criticizing Hawkins for what he saw as his "imperialist perspective" and "CIA talking points.”[60][61]
Structure and composition[edit]
Committees[edit]
The Green Party has two national committees recognized by the Federal Election Commission (FEC):