The Green Party appeared too late to qualify for Janda's 1950-1962 ICPP study. The party continued throughout 1950-1990 in the Harmel-Janda study of party change.

The essay on party politics in the united Germany from 1963 to 2000 says:

Although established in 1979, the Green Party did not achieve representation in the Bundestag, and did not therefore receive recognition as a true party, until 1983 when the Greens exceeded the 5% hurdle. The Greens began as the political arm of the citizen initiative group movement. Their platform contained a strong stance on environmental issues, so the news of the Chernobyl accident doubled their opinion polls. The Greens took votes from the generally SPD voters, leaving the SPD with little option other than moving toward the Greens to maintain those votes. As a rising party, some speculate as to the role The Greens will have in future governments: remaining a small party or becoming the new pivot party. Following the1998 election, the SPD bypassed the FDP and formed a government with the Green Party.

Consult the index to variables for annual scores of the party's issue orientation, organizational complexity, centralization of power, and coherence from 1950 through 1990.