Röth, Leonce/ Schwander, Hannah (2020): "Greens in government: the distributive policies of a culturally progressive force", West European Politics, doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2019.1702792

Abstract

Given the crucial role of Green parties in modern party systems, surprisingly little is known about the impact that Green parties in governments have on distributive issues, on the spending or the revenue side of distributive politics. Providing such insights is the purpose of this study. Based on an encompassing cross-national data set of 34 countries from 1970 to 2015, this article examines the impact of Green government participation on three dimensions of distributive policy making: social consumption, social investment and taxation policies. It is found that the inclusion of Green parties in national governments leads to higher spending on social investment, while the status quo prevails regarding social consumption and taxation. Nonetheless, as procurers of centre-left majorities, Greens in government prevent retrenchment on social consumption and decreasing corporate and top marginal income taxes. This work bears relevance for the study of party politics, the reconfiguration of welfare states and the literature on coalition dynamics.