Project Type
Poster
Publication Date
Spring 4-5-2025
Department or Program
Modern Languages and Literatures
College
College of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Mentor #1
Dr. Jennifer Hansen-Glucklich
Faculty Mentor #2
Dr. Marcel Rotter
Abstract
The Alternativ für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany) (AfD) is a far-right populist party that has quickly grown in power within the past decade, particularly in Eastern German states, due to its emphasis on nationalization, populist rhetoric, and attraction to voters’ fears about immigration and cultural change. The AfD has managed to mobilize strong voting support within five years, gaining parliamentary seats in the Bundestag (Federal Parliament) in 2017, and is now considered the main opposition party to the established parties. The AfD is the first right-wing party to gain significant voting attention since 1945, capitalizing on the rise of right-wing ideology. Due to the reactionary pendulum swing after post-Nazi Germany, the Penal Code outright prohibits hate speech and national-socialist ideology; however, the party has survived by walking the fine line between neo-Nazism and ultra-conservative free speech. In addition to inflammatory remarks made by AfD politicians and right-wing personalities, the media has focused its attention on political polarization as a result of widely disseminating explosive propaganda. As the AfD continues gaining traction and forming connections with other polarized and extremist factions, the coalition government endures increased fragmentation, as can also be seen in the United States and other European countries.
Included in
Comparative Politics Commons, Cultural History Commons, Economic Policy Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, European History Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, German Linguistics Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Migration Studies Commons, Modern Languages Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons, Other German Language and Literature Commons, Other Political Science Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Other Sociology Commons, Political History Commons, Political Theory Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Policy Commons