Despite the more difficult majorities in society and parliaments, the Greens should not spend too much time licking their wounds. Instead: open the gates and invite people everywhere to get involved in forward-looking politics.
After the 2025 German federal elections, the Greens face the challenge of reviewing their political orientation in light of the changed realities and regaining lost trust in broader sections of society. The period of the so-called ‘traffic light’ (Ampel) coalition of Social Democrats, Liberal Democrats and Greens was not only characterised by radically changing conditions in the wake of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, but also by the resulting turning point in defence policy, the energy crisis, social frictions in the wake of the pandemic, the departure from budget surpluses and now the termination of the transatlantic partnership. All parties were and are called upon to face up to these radically changed realities. And quickly.
Even for Green politics itself, the signs of the times changed dramatically during the period of government. Although the Greens achieved considerable results during their time in government, they also faced strong headwinds. At times, they were even declared the main opponent of democratic competitors, which is remarkable and in many respects highly worrying given the rise of far-right forces to become the second strongest party in the country. In order to be successful again, the Greens must now make a fresh start. The fact that all the cards are being reshuffled with the Bundestag elections and, above all, with the greatly changed global situation, offers an opportunity for this.
Don't lose heart now - for freedom, for Europe!
With their election result, the Greens are in a better position than their two former coalition partners, who have to ask themselves more profound questions. At the same time, part of the Green appeal in the past few years has been due to their role in government. In some respects, the prospect of going into opposition would be more difficult for them than for others, especially as the political situation would benefit from Green participation in government. What is at stake now is nothing less than the preservation of liberal democracy and the freedom of the people of Europe. This begins first and foremost with the defence of Ukraine and the commitment to a just peace. In addition, the influence of autocratic and extreme forces is also having an impact here in Germany, as the AfD results show. Robert Habeck is the antidote to this development, representing a new, people-centred political style, and his withdrawal from active politics is a bitter loss. The Greens should take up his legacy and continue it.
The most important task is to rebuild the persuasive power of the centre-left as a whole in alliance with many others.
This includes not dwarfing ourselves now and only looking for easy-to-win swing voters. The most important task is to rebuild the persuasive power of the centre-left as a whole in alliance with many others. Despite the more difficult majorities in society and parliaments, the Greens should therefore not spend too much time licking their wounds and instead open the doors and invite people everywhere to join forces for forward-looking policies. This requires a considerable degree of willingness to reach out to the general public outside of election campaign periods and to create points of contact with the Green programme. Especially among those people who are not yet or no longer convinced by Green politics. But it also applies to those who are fundamentally convinced by the Green programme, but who at the same time do not believe that the Greens will achieve concrete improvements for them personally in their everyday lives.
Gaining trust through empathy, listening and clarity
Especially when people do not have time for politics in their everyday lives because they have to take care of family and work, when there simply isn't enough money or prospects to fulfil their own needs or those of their loved ones, it requires a fundamental trust that a party will ‘look after my interests’. That a political actor will keep these interests in mind and also engage with sceptics. In this quick-fire election campaign, Robert Habeck and the Greens tried to address this very proactively and, with the ‘kitchen table talks’, created spaces for listening to people’s issues. Nevertheless, many people have rarely heard a Green representative ask about their own needs, fears and interests in recent years. Understandably, people are bothered by the feeling that they are being persuaded or even lectured about something instead of being genuinely personally convinced on the matter.
As a result of the recent past, most people know very well that politics must act decisively and cannot merely maintain the status quo in order to secure our freedom and prosperity for the future. The Greens have a unique selling point here: they are the only party standing for this kind of positive change, and they do not promise that nothing will change in people's everyday lives despite the need for change. However, an acute fear of loss in times after having witnessed war in Europe, inflation and multiple crises are more understandable than many Greens have admitted in the past. What is necessary here is genuine understanding and empathy in order to gain trust, as well as the clear message that stability and security can only be guaranteed through change, not by sitting out and postponing.
Out of the Green local office, into the shooting association
The election debates have shown: a political actor aiming at tackling problems, i.e. making real change, requires a much greater degree of trust and emotional commitment than if it were only a matter of defending the status quo or bringing back the past. However, confidence in the democratic problem-solving mechanism as a basic attitude cannot be beamed into people's heads by election posters, but must be worked for politically and interpersonally over many years. For many people, personal contact in a direct conversation or in a direct approach via social media is far more important than the next talk show appearance or newspaper guest article. This is particularly evident with regard to the younger population, who are increasingly informing and orienting themselves and getting involved via social networks, both digital and analogue. In order to be effective here, however, the key lies in involving key multipliers into the respective bubbles.
In order for a party to get beyond 15 to 20% and actually reach out, it will of course take more people than just the top personnel. The strong mobilisation of party members old and new in the weeks leading up to the Bundestag elections stood in stark contrast to the silence that at times prevailed in the party while part of the ‘Ampel’ coalition. At this point, the Greens have to ask themselves whether they have made sufficient use of the largest parliamentary group in the Bundestag to date and the strength of several large state parliamentary groups in recent years to this end. Some of these mandates and entire parliamentary groups are no longer there, but at the same time over 160,000 members are still an expression of the continued strength of the Greens. They bear responsibility and represent Green politics in their neighbourhoods, their church congregations, their volunteer fire departments and their shooting associations. In all these places, there are people who, despite their differing opinions, have the common good in mind. People who navigate democratic negotiation processes there every day because of their commitment to a living democracy.
Being an alliance party is a permanent social task in all parts of the country.
The Green party must now build on this: instead of feel-good meetings in Green Party offices, this effect must unfold at the local street party, at the regulars' tables of the local association and at workers’ assemblies. The much called-upon “getting out on the streets” is also necessary here. As a political commitment, this cannot (merely) be translated as “we need to demonstrate more”. Rather, it is about meeting people in their own surroundings and building trust there. Not so much by approaching them as “potential voters” in the pre-election campaign period, but by using the four years in between elections to show that the Greens are serious about the first sentence of their programme: “people with their dignity and freedom are at the heart of our politics”. This can be translated into political practice if the role of the party vis-à-vis the rest of society is not understood purely in terms of approaching potential voters, but as an integral part of the community and as a transmitter of common interests. Being an alliance party (as represented in the full party name, Alliance 90/The Greens) is not just a strategic interest, but also a permanent societal task throughout the country.
Examining one’s own positions and clarifying the party’s role
This also includes prioritising issues that reflect the interests of the majority of society – also those in the here and now. For too long, Greens hoped that people would ‘simply understand’ that climate protection was also in their interests. And that any resulting costs would simply have to be included in private household budgets if, for example, they were not offset by a climate subsidy for households when raising the CO2 price. This attitude reveals how much Green politics is still shaped by life experiences in a (West German) academic milieu. The enormous growth in membership over the past year is opening up new opportunities here. Many of the new members bring with them completely new and diverse experiences and backgrounds. The party should seize this opportunity and make explicit use of these experiences, giving them space.
In the electoral disputes of recent years, the Greens have placed great importance on conveying a sense of unity to the outside world, even on controversial issues within the party. Green Party conferences still involve more open debates and votes than many other parties. However, in the past year, with European and local elections, the elections in East Germany and, most recently, the Bundestag election, the resolution of fundamental issues was postponed, rather than facing difficult questions and conflicting goals on an open stage. At the same time, it is obvious how the tectonic changes since the start of the war in 2022 and the US election in 2024 have called many certainties into question and are presenting all governments and political parties worldwide with enormous challenges. The Greens are not immune to this.
The new economic and geopolitical changes that we have seen since US President Trump took office once again require fundamental answers and considerable prioritisation in politics. For the Greens, there is also the question of the extent to which an ecological party can address the protection of ecology primarily through environmental, nature and climate protection policy. And if not, whether and how it can actually succeed in establishing other areas of expertise - such as economic policy, security policy or European policy. Do the Greens want to represent the interests of one side or do they want to contribute to real progress in the matter by bringing the different sides together? For example, how can employers, start-up founders, trade unions and master artisans, or police unionists, youth judges and migrants’ organisations, be brought together? It is clear that the key issues of the time for Europe must be front and centre: ensuring freedom, security and prosperity.
Dealing with contradictions: no fear of debate
In order to establish the necessary level of trust in their policies and personnel, the Greens need to think carefully about where they approach the interests and needs of others and where they only take them up in part or even openly oppose them in order to protect their own brand essence and claim to change. Moreover, in order to ensure relevance in the attention economy, it is sometimes advisable to provoke opposition. Green demands are not the disruptive factor in an otherwise ideal world, they are part of the public debate and should be. In the hastily provoked debates about social security contributions on capital investments, some people would probably have liked the Greens to go further on the offensive instead of getting tangled. However, this would have been even more important on more though-through issues, such as the wealth tax, which was put back in the drawer far too quickly.
All of this must be communicated credibly and, if possible, without contradictions. After all, it is particularly damaging to trust if inconsistencies in your own stance become apparent without these being explicitly explained. Then authenticity is lost and people become suspicious. This applies just as much to endeavours to uphold the rule of law and human rights in the migration issue as it does to a genuine industrial growth perspective based on renewable energies. It is important for the Greens not to disguise and gloss over contradictions. Instead, arguments should be presented openly, valued and weighed. In the end, many people do not want to be right above all else, but simply want to be taken seriously.
It is now crucial for the Greens to tackle the need for change in the country and, above all, in Europe with full motivation and authentic enthusiasm and to address people across the breadth of society. With a language that does not recall the early days of the ‘socio-ecological transformation’, that talks about ‘growth’ instead of ‘change’. With emotions that do not primarily convey a ‘less’, a ‘restriction’ and an ‘effort’, but rather a ‘more’, an ‘improvement’ and an ‘achievement’. Many people want to join in and take responsibility in these times because they know what challenges we are facing as a society. But the courage to do so is quickly lost these days, fear and the fear-mongers are quickly on the scene. The Greens need a lot of team spirit and conviction to counter this and win people's trust. The election is over, the work is just beginning.
This article was first published on boell.de.
