Politico-economic determinants of support for green parties: Evidence from a conjoint experiment in Germany

Electoral choices are shaped not only by the ideological congruence between voters and parties, but also by the political-economic context in which voting takes place. However, little is known about the precise conditions that shape the electoral fortunes of Green parties (GPs). In this paper, we fill this gap using a conjoint experiment conducted in Germany, the home of one of the largest and most influential GPs, B90/The Greens (The Greens), at a time when the party was part of the governing coalition. We find that while The Greens are seen as ineffective in dealing with pressing macroeconomic circumstances such as rising inflation, unemployment and inequality, they are more trusted in dealing with environmental issues, close to their original niche. We also show that The Greens appear to be seen as a potential coalition partner rather than a rival to the far right, even though the dynamics of the party system as a whole are less central than the economy. Crucially, these divisions are not elastic to respondents' revealed levels of environmentalism.