Who Gains the Environmentalist Vote? New Evidence on Environmentalist Voters and Party Competition

There are systematic differences in the electoral success of green parties between East and West European party systems. While research demonstrates that environmental issues resonate with voters in both regions and that parties compete on these issues, significant disparities in green party support persist. Existing literature attributes these differences to factors such as levels of post-materialism, the salience of tangible environmental problems, and variations in electoral systems. However, why the environmental vote is not directed at green parties in Central and Eastern Europe remains an underexplored question. Using data from the 2019 European Election Study, this article shows that environmentalist voters in Central and Eastern Europe are more likely to vote for non-green parties, driven by perceptions of these parties’ lack of competence on environmental issues and their competitiveness against other parties. Further, the findings challenge the post-materialist theory by demonstrating that environmental issues matter to voters and parties across Europe, irrespective of regional context. These findings show the increasingly pro-environmental role non-green parties play in East Europe and replicates results showing that the competitive advantage of green parties in West Europe is contingent on party system dynamics and rules that facilitate niche party success. By shedding light on how environmental issues are contested in Europe, this study deepens our understanding of the evolving role of environmental politics in diverse political systems.