The ‘Alternative für Deutschland in the Electorate’: Between Single-Issue and Right-Wing Populist Party

The Electoral Supporter Base of the Alternative for Germany

“…However, these findings do seem to fit important assumptions made in the literature about PRRP support. Not only are AfD supporters very critical of the recent immigration and especially the asylum policies of Germany (Schmitt‐Beck ), they also hold more negative views on immigrants, especially Muslim immigrants, than voters of other parties (Berbuir et al. ).…”

“…Turning to previous interpretations of the relevance of the socio‐economic context for AfD support, conflict, but especially contact arguments, have both been stressed. Regarding economic conditions, many observers claim that the AfD gains disproportionate support in regions with problematic economic conditions (Schmitt‐Beck ), which, from a national perspective, are often located in the eastern part of Germany (Schmitt‐Beck ). In contrast to theoretical expectations, however, these are regions with very low numbers of foreigners.…”

“…Only a few studies have addressed this issue (Berbuir et al. ; Schmitt‐Beck , ) and such analyses have been restricted by low numbers of respondents, potential sample bias and – most importantly – by the rapidly changing character of the AfD itself. Thus, we need to know more about whether the factors behind the party's electoral support are by now the same as those demonstrated for PRRPs elsewhere.…”

The role of right‐wing authoritarianism and political sophistication in shaping attitudes toward redistribution

“…Stereotypically, conservatives tend to be viewed as heartless and tough-minded (Farwell & Weiner, 2000;Graham, Nosek, & Haidt, 2012), and some empirical evidence appears to support this view (Chirumbolo, Leone, & Desimoni, 2016;Van Lange, Bekkers, Chirumbolo, & Leone, 2012). Some right-wing populist parties such as the Freedom Party of Austria (FP € O), the French Front National (FN), or the German Alternative f€ ur Deutschland (AfD) adopted neoliberal economic positions in the past and moved to welfare chauvinism only more recently (Ennser-Jedenastik, 2016;Kitschelt, 1995;Schmitt-Beck, 2017). This aspect is particularly interesting in the light of the current upsurge of right-wing populist parties that combine anti-immigrant sentiments on the socio-cultural dimension with "welfare chauvinism" on the economic dimension in different countries (Schumacher & van Kersbergen, 2014).…”

“…These parties do not generally oppose strong welfare systems but, instead, aim at restricting its benefits to culturally or biologically defined ingroups. Some right-wing populist parties such as the Freedom Party of Austria (FP € O), the French Front National (FN), or the German Alternative f€ ur Deutschland (AfD) adopted neoliberal economic positions in the past and moved to welfare chauvinism only more recently (Ennser-Jedenastik, 2016;Kitschelt, 1995;Schmitt-Beck, 2017). Studies that investigated authoritarianism and welfare chauvinism found that authoritarianism was not negatively associated with support for social spending (Staerkl e et al, 2012), except for when welfare recipients included outgroup members (Mewes & Mau, 2012).…”