ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AfD) IN PERSPECTIVE

Founded in early 2013 Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) focused its initial efforts on opposing the Merkel government’s handling of the eurozone crisis. Following Europe's economic downturn in 2008, national deficits and unemployment soared while growth stalled throughout the continent. As the largest economy in Europe, Germany led the charge of bailouts of debt-ridden Southern European countries,and the party attracted voters who believed Merkel’s policies were not in the interest of the German people. Many of the founding members were professors and two-thirds held doctorate degrees allowing the party to present itself as an intellectual alternative to other conservative parties that leaders accused of being too engrained in establishment European politics to look out for German interests.

As the party splindered ideologically in 2014, a more radical, populist faction led by Frauke Petry took over, pushing founders like Lucke to leave. Under the new leadership, the party focused on the migration issue throughout 2015, as economic policies were hardly mentioned and sometimes even reversed, with some candidates advocating for a minimum wage when the party used to oppose it.

The rise of AfD is very much connected to migration and to the refugee crisis and it has little to do with the economic situation. The continuing strength of the German economy made it difficult for the party to stand on a platform focused on criticizing the establishment’s fiscal policies. AfD has evolved from a euroskeptic, free-market-economics party into an anti-immigrant, far right-wing movement. The party is known for its often wild rhetoric about immigration, such as the suggestion that German police should shoot refugees they see trying to cross the border, and the party's transition reflects a nationwide shift toward right-wing populism that could pose a challenge to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union ahead of national elections in 2017.

What do supporters of the AfD have in common?

1. They, or most of them are convinced that the present German political class and large sections of the media in alliance with this class can no longer be trusted.     
2. Supporters of the AfD also share the fact that they believe in one way or another in the nation state, and that of course constitutes a major revolution in Germany.
3. Supporters of the AfD, have little time for the idea of a United States of Europe anyhow. Most of them would not deny that the EU as such has a legitimate part to play in politics.
4. The idea of an ever closer union of European states is widely rejected by AfD supporters. They believe that political cultures (and in fact economic cultures) are far too diverse in Europe for such a superstate to function effectively.  
5. Some supporters of the AfD also feel that it is high time to take a critical look at the ‘friendship’ between the US and Germany, given the fact that American presidents tend to see European countries as mere pawns in a worldwide great game for power and supremacy.

The AfD leaders have therefore tried to tap into the undercurrent of conservative opinion which is dissatisfied with the sea changes German politics have undergone over the last fifteen or twenty years. The task the AfD faces is a difficult one. It can only be successful if it manages to offer something substantial to voters subscribing to conservative values in matters concerning education, the family and immigration, beyond a principled opposition to a centralised European state.

Recent Election Results

The AfD party has raised its presence to half of the country’s 16 federal states  including two western parliaments

1. Baden-Württemberg: 12.5%
2. Rhineland-Palatinate: 11 %
3. Saxony-Anhalt: 22%

In the 25 May 2014,European election, the AfD came in fifth place in Germany, with 7.1% of the national vote (2,065,162 votes), and 7 members of the European Parliament. On 12 June 2014 it was announced that the AfD had been accepted into the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).