Composed during a period of increased attention on the appeal and electoral prospects of the German Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) party, which capitalized on dissatisfaction with the three-party Ampelkoalition (“traffic light” government), this analysis investigates the movement’s origins and development. Qualifying the AfD’s early manifestation as that of a “soft Euroskeptic” party, this paper examines the movement’s evolution against the backdrop of key sociopolitical developments in 2010s German society. Arguing that internal leadership changes pulled the party further into the right-wing populist realm during a period of animated political contestation over immigration, this analysis illustrates the developments that created today’s AfD. This research engages with both geography of discontent literature to explain the party’s appeal in eastern Germany and recent voting data to identify its evolving base. In charting the AfD’s development and appeal, this article illuminates the origins and draw of the far-right populist party reshaping German politics today.
B. Cobb (Thu,) studied this question.