Category: Political Science
The 10 most popular posts on this blog in 2019
Yet another end-of-year post It’s that time of the year again. No, I’m not talking about mindless consumerism, pointless over-indulgence and the Great Starbucks War on Christmas. What I’m talking about is my yearly reflection on why I still solo blog in <insert year>, and which posts were the least unpopular. To which the answer…
A vast majority of Germans sees the AfD as a right-wing extremist party
For the radical right in Europe, Alternative for Germany is an increasingly unusual case In a recent paper published in JCMS, I argue that unlike other German far-right parties, the “Alternative for Germany party” (AfD) managed to avoid being associated with Nazism. The strong presence of establishment figures that previously were (or could have been) members…
Video: winter 2019 update of the Extreme Right Bibliography
I have updated my bibliography on the Extreme/Radical Right in Europe with 53 new titles. To find out what is new, watch the 90-second video, or read the brief summary.
The Extreme Right Bibliography: winter 2019 update
The Bibliography on the Extreme Right in Europe: Winter 2019 update
Depending on your point of view, autumn is late this year. Or Christmas comes early. Either way, here is the winter 2019 edition of the Eclectic, Erratic Bibliography on the Extreme Right in Western Europe. And this is what you will want to know ? How much is new in the bibliography? Since March, I have…
Frauke Petry’s Blue Party is over
When former leader Frauke Petry left the AfD after the 2017 federal election, she kept her seats in the Bundestag and in Saxony’s regional parliament. These seats were meant to form the base for a new movement/party she quickly set up with friends and family. [caption id="attachment_29025" width="1200"] Image source: Wikipedia[/caption] The “Blue Party” was…
5 quick hits on the state election in Thuringia
LEFT 30.4% AfD 23.5% CDU 22.1% SPD 8.1% GREENS 5.1% FDP 5.1% Source: FGW projection, 8:10pm Why waste my life writing lengthy books that no-one is going to read? Why go through the pain of peer review? Why, in fact, wait for the actual election results to come in? So here is my list on…
Another AfD leader speaks at a far-right “institute”
The ‘Institut für Staatspolitik’ is a well-known far-right ‘think tank’. Their self-stated meta-political mission is to educate the future nationalist. The long-term objective is to achieve a stealthy transformation of German society. They have been around for a while, and there are books and chapters about them, written by people who study right-wing extremism for…
Video: The AfD’s transformation, 2013-2017
The “Alternative for Germany” began its political life as a softly eurosceptic breakaway from the political mainstream but has changed beyond all recognition. Using a very large dataset covering the full 2013-17 period, Carl Berning and I trace the transformation of the AfD’s electorate, which now fits the somewhat stereotypical radical right template. Read the full article, or watch the highlights in just under 90 seconds.
How the AfD and their voters veered to the Radical Right, 2013-17
Regional support for the “Alternative for Germany” varies wildly
The AfD was founded near Germany’s financial centre of gravity (Frankfort) by members of the old western elites. But early on, the eastern states of Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia became important for the further development of the party. It was here, during the 2014 state election season, that the AfD began to toy (very reluctantly…