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Greens/Green Party USA | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Howie Hawkins |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Dissolved | 2019 |
| Preceded by | Green Committees of Correspondence |
| Succeeded by | Green Party of the United States |
| Headquarters | Chicago,Illinois |
| Newspaper | Synthesis/Regeneration |
| Ideology | Green politics |
| Political position | Left-wing |
| Colors | Green |
| Website | |
| Archive | |
TheGreens/Green Party USA (G/GPUSA) was a political organization formed out of the Green Committees of Correspondence in 1991 and was recognized as a national political party by theFEC from 1991 to 2005. It was based inChicago.Synthesis/Regeneration, an affiliated journal of green social thought, was published inSt. Louis. The now predominantGreen Party of the United States split from the G/GPUSA in 2001.
The Greens/Green Party USA (G/GPUSA) was founded at the August 1991 Green Gathering inElkins, West Virginia, restructuring the Green Committees of Correspondence with the idea that the Green movement and Green Party would operate as part of a single organization.
A press conference was held inWashington, D.C., to announce the new organization, featuring Charles Betz (G/GPUSA Coordinating Committee member),Howie Hawkins and Joni Whitmore (Chair,Green Party of Alaska), as well asHilda Mason of theD.C. Statehood Party, and was featured on C-SPAN.[1] Subsequently, legal documents were filed underMissouri law to form theGreens/Green Party USA as a527 group. It was recognized by theFEC as a national political party in 1991.
Subsequent G/GPUSA Green Gatherings were held inMinneapolis (Augsburg College, July 1992);Syracuse (August 1993);Boise (July 1994),Albuquerque (University of New Mexico, July 27–30, 1995),Los Angeles (UCLA, August 1996); andLawrence, Massachusetts (August 1997).
At various times, a "Green Clearinghouse" was the central administrative office of G/GPUSA. The Clearinghouse has operated from various locations, including (originally)Kansas City, Missouri;Blodgett Mills, New York; Lawrence, Massachusetts; andChicago.
Despite its development of a national-level organization, the G/GPUSA always emphasized that the "Green Local" is the primary organizing unit. Some members of G/GPUSA resisted efforts to organize Green parties at the state level, on the theory that statebureaucracy was inimical to the organic and democratic nature of autonomous Green locals. The model in the early days was based on thebioregion and not state boundaries. Other Greens pointed out that, in most jurisdictions in the United States, political parties gain recognition at the state level, so without state-level organizations it would be difficult for Greens to participate in election activities.
At the 2001 Congress of the G/GPUSA, held atCarbondale, Illinois, on July 21, the delegates were to consider the Boston Proposal,[2] a separation of powers agreement between it and theAssociation of State Green Parties (ASGP). Many of those attending were also members of the ASGP. There was an intense organizational struggle, much of which revolved around whether or not to "accredit" various delegations (and thus grant them voting privileges). The proposal failed to reach the required two-thirds majority, although over half voted to approve it (99 in favor, 81 against).
The result was very controversial, and ultimately led to the exodus of many G/GPUSA activists, some of whom went on to form The Green Alliance, an organization intended to bring "movement" politics in the style of the G/GPUSA into the Green Party of the United States.
In 2001, theGreen Party of the United States was founded and recognized by the FEC as a national committee, and has become a much larger and more visible than the G/GPUSA. In 2005, G/GPUSA lost its political party status at the FEC. It had reported no income or expenditures for some time.
The G/GPUSA Coordinating Committee notified its members and supporters of the decision to disband the party in January 2019.
TheGreen Party of the United States and Greens/Green Party USA had no organizational connection but share a common and difficult history. The G/GPUSA is not an electoral party, although some of its members participate in elections. The name "G/GPUSA" is said to have reflected a compromise or a synergy between Greens who emphasized the primacy of combining non-electoral movement building with electoral campaigns, and those who sought to participate actively only in elections. It has also been characterized as a power grab when the original Committees of Correspondence split and a small group registered the name without consultation with the five existing state parties, all in the western states.
The Greens/Green Party USA was an educational,grassroots organizing, advocacy group based on the 10 Key Values. The journalSynthesis/Regeneration published inSt. Louis, was associated with the G/GPUSA. This journal publishes articles by writers with a wide range of Green viewpoints.Synthesis/Regeneration was first published in 1991 and is produced every four months.
The source of the rift between the two national Green parties was a matter of contentious debate. Some point to differences of political philosophy or views on the proper structure of the party or attitudes toward elections, while others suggest it was more about personality conflicts, turf struggles, and poor communication leading to concerns about financial and political accountability, or perhaps the 1991 name grab or the inaccurate G/GPUSA FEC filing in 1995. It is important to note that the heated debates and the fighting that was waged for several years at the national level (and among Greens within a few states, such asNew York,Missouri,California andNew Jersey) seemed largely irrelevant to the vast majority of grassroots Greens, who preferred to devote their energies to local organizing.
In an article on the G/GPUSA's website, the organization characterized the split between itself and theGreen Party of the United States (GPUS) as akin to thefundi–realo split in theGerman Greens, with itself being the fundi wing and GPUS the realos.[3]
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