The 1989 European election: Protest or green tide?

Abstract

The first two rounds of direct elections to the European Parliament have been characterized as a set of separate national second order elections in which turnout is low, small parties do well, and the electorate cast judgement on their governments rather than on European issues. Many of those features are apparent in the 1989 elections. But there was a community-wide movement towards the Greens which was not simply part of the general success for small parties, but the Greens' gains were not fully reflected in the distribution of Strasbourg seats. These elections may well give a significant boost to the success of Green parties in future national elections.