Views from the capitals: How to constrain populism in Germany

On the 24 September 2017 5.9 million Germans cast their vote in favour of the nationalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, giving them 93 seats. This makes them the third largest of the six parties represented in parliament – an unprecedented feat for a new party’s first entry to the Bundestag.

The other parties have ruled out working with the far-right group, meaning they will not be part of the next German government. But they will nonetheless exert a strong influence on German political culture.

Germany is not alone in dealing with populism: much of Europe is going through a similar process. So here ECFR’s national offices in the UK, Italy, France, Poland and Bulgaria present their advice for the new German government, drawing on the distinct but related experiences of their own countries in recent years.

ESO: Background information: German consensus politics must adapt to the adversarial approach of the AfD (LSE EuroppBlog, September 2017, et al) http://www.europeansources.info/record/german-consensus-politics-must-adapt-to-the-adversarial-approach-of-the-afd/

ESO: Background information: Rise and fall of populism http://www.europeansources.info/record/rise-and-fall-of-populism/

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