A Short History of The Green Party.

The need for a federation of state Green Parties was first suggested in 1992 by a structure committee that was empowered at the 1991 national gathering, but it did not receive support from enough state parties at the time.

During the 1996 Presidential Election season, Greens working on the Nader for President campaign decided that it was an idea whose time had come, and plans were made during the final period of that campaign for a meeting at Middleburg, VA to discuss the idea.. The meeting was held on Nov 16-17 at the Glen-Ora Farm in Middleburg, 40 miles west of Washington, D.C. and drew 62 people from 30 states. 11 State Parties agreed to join at the meeting, and the other party representatives went home to discuss this more with fellow Greens in their respective states. A resolution to create the ASGP was passed.

The ASGP's next meeting was in Portland, OR on April 5-6, 1997. The structure called for a Coordinating Committee with two members (with two votes) from each affiliated state. A Steering Committee consisting of three Co-Chairs, Treasurer and Secretary, would deal with day-to-day needs.

Various committees have been formed since then. This structure has continued to this day. Coordinating Committee decisions require a 2/3 quorum of participating state parties, and most votes need a simple majority, though bylaws changes and a few other things require a 2/3 vote. Although the national meetings described in this memo serve an important decision making purpose, all decisions can be made by the Coordinating Committee by email vote. Email votes are structured to permit one week of online discussion followed by a 3 week vote; the same quorum rule applies. The Steering Committee may extend the vote if a quorum is not reached.
To deal with the growth of the new organization, a second national meeting was held on October 4-5, 1997 in Topsham, ME. The list of affiliated state parties continued to grow towards 20 and plans were laid for the 2000 elections. Primary agenda items dealt with the affiliation process, internal communications and relations with the G/GPUSA.

The meeting shifted west for 1998 as our sole meeting was hosted by the New Mexico Green Party in Santa Fe, NM. The meeting was held on April 25 and 26. The focus of this meeting was again preparations for the 2000 elections, as well as international relations, as for the first time we hosted guests from the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico.

In 1999 we met in Moodus, CT on June 5 and 6. The growth of the ASGP to over 20 affiliates resulted in a crowded meeting that included many observers and additional foreign guests, including from both South America and Europe. At this meeting, it was decided to hold the National Nominating Convention on the weekend of June 24 and 25, 2000 and a proposal process was adopted for choosing the location. After the official meeting ended, Ralph Nader spoke to group about a potential Presidential race in 2000.

A month later Denver, CO was chosen as the site for the convention over the bid from Washington, DC. The rest of 1999 and early 2000 was the busiest of times for the ASGP as preparations were made for its first national convention, as well as working with the candidates seeking our nomination.

The Denver Convention was the result of years of planning by the ASGP. State Green Parties, whether affiliated with the ASGP or not, were invited to send delegates to choose our Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates. The convention attendance was much higher than expected and received extensive public coverage by the national press.

After the convention, attention shifted more to the campaign as it was led by our nominated candidate, Ralph Nader. After the election, the ASGP met in December in Hiawassee, GA on December 9, 10 to follow up the campaign and make preparations to solidify the gains of the campaign. Affiliation count was now approaching 30 and plans were made for this filing for national committee status.

Our most recent meeting was held in Santa Barbara, CA, on July 28, 29. The ASGP with affiliations now in the mid-thirties now prepares to shift from being a federation of state parties to being the national Green Party, in conjunction with the expected recognition by the Federal Election Commission as the national committee of the Green Party.

Email: info@greenpartyus.org
Office: PO Box 57065 Washington, D.C. 20037  Toll-Free: 866-41GREEN