Supporters of the rightist party “AfD” in Germany
Montag, 25. September 2017 - 05:45
In the federal elections in Germany (2017-09-24) more than 1 million voters switched from the moderate conservative to the rightists. 300,000 of the voters who previously voted for the social democrates moved to the rightists. 1,300,000 voters supported the rightists who previously didn’t vote at all.
Voters of the AfD (right populists, “Alternative für Deutschland”): 13%
- 35% of these voters didn’t vote in 2013 or voted for other (little) parties in in 2013
- 24% of these voters voted for the AfD (right-wing to far-right) in 2013.
- 21% of these voters voted for the CDU/CSU (conservatives, centre to centre right, supports Angela Merkel, “Christlich Demokratische Partei”, Bavarian “Christlich Soziale Partei”) in 2013.
- 21% of these voters voted for the SPD (social democrats, centre left, “Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands”) in 2013.
- 10% of these voters voted for the FDP (slightly ortholiberal and different from the US liberals, centre to centre right), “Freie Demokratische Partei”) in 2013.
- 6% of these voters voted for the “Die Linke” (leftist to far left) in 2013.
- 1% of these voters voted for the “Die Grünen” (greens, centre to centre left) in 2013.
Source: Forschungsgruppe Wahlen (quoted by the weekly DIE ZEIT)
More about the parties: Wikipedia
My personal opinion:
The rightists always have been there, but only recently they were able to develop structures which allowed them to be visible in the federal parliament. A driving force behind that could be an increasing economical inequality (explanation in German how to measure economic inequality) with a growing group of people who feel left behind by the established parties. This feeling probably had been significantly intensified by refugees who are perceived by AfD voters as cultural and economical competitors. The refugees, the internet and the effects of (not only economic) globalization seem to have served as major catalysts for the emergence and growth of the AfD.
I think that many AfD supporters would support a leader like Donald Trump. He surely doesn’t recieve any sympathies from the members of any other party in the German parliament. Germany still is a mature democracy.
