Environmental Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Environmental Policy - Essay Example authoritarian with the semblance of democracy through rubber stamp elections (re: Saddam Hussein’s elections in which he would win 99.9% of the â€Å"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 con troversial 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). 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