Varieties of left-wing authoritarianism? The local foundations and intra-party heterogeneity of the German challenger party BSW

Research has emphasized both the existence of left-wing authoritarian attitudes among the European electorate and a lack of political supply. In Germany, this dynamic changed with the rise of the BSW. Advancing research on left-wing authoritarianism in general and the BSW specifically, we rely on original Voting Advice Application (VAA) data from six city elections in 2024, allowing us to study the supply- and demand-side at the local level. We highlight three findings: First, BSW’s local-level positions vary widely across policies, including left-wing, moderate, and (moderately) right-wing stances. Second, BSW’s intra-party heterogeneity is higher on socio-cultural than on socio-economic issues. Third, BSW voters’ answers to VAA questions are more right-leaning than their self-placement. Our findings on the BSW offer key insights into an empirically observable case of left-wing authoritarianism, highlighting nuanced perspectives on the ideology of an emerging political phenomenon.