Minor parties in unwelcome circumstance: Green Parties in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia

This paper examines the development of three small parties, all of which are members of the Global Greens family, and all of whom have had only limited national electoral success. The research proceeds from a series of interviews conducted with members of the three parties over the course of 18 months in 2014-15, a period prior to the next set of national elections. The national contests themselves are all marked by significant electoral barriers to new party entrants, in the Philippines and Indonesia high structural demands and in Japan high financial costs. In each instance, the parties have focused on local contest entry over national contests as a first step. The paper will draw upon the experiences of the three parties to consider the efficacy of the approaches taken to party development, and what we might learn about the development of Green parties across Asia.