Crooked right-wingers, Nazi Grandmas, pesky exam questions, and multiple party identification: four German links I liked

German media report that about 10 per cent of all MPs for the Radical Right AfD (state and federal level) are currently investigated by the police. Allegations range from incitement to fraud and tax evasion. In dubio pro and all that, but it’s not exactly what you normally mean by a law & order party,…

Elections in Europe in 2017: four reports

Elections in Europe: great expectations. [caption id="attachment_28012" align="alignright" width="300"] Source: Evans & Ivaldi, SCoRE project[/caption] 2017 was a year of high-profile national elections in Europe, in which the Radical Right was expected to do particularly well. Balanced and neutral as ever, the Express claimed that the votes in France, Germany, and the Netherlands could DESTROY…

Brexit, Italy, twitter bots, Germany, blogs: five links I liked

From the Monkey Cage: Italy just voted for two very different kinds of populism The botrnot package for the R language: Which world leaders are actually bots? (Use your own judgment) Science community blogs: recognising value and measuring reach Germany being Germany (or Bavaria?): German minister under fire for no women in leadership team 11…

I looked up the AfD’s women’s organisation on Facebook. You will not believe what I found

I looked up the AfD's women's organisation on Facebook. You will not believe what I found 1

Women don’t like the AfD (and why would they?) The AfD is not particularly attractive for women. Survey data suggest that only one in three AfD voters is a woman. The new national executive has 14 memebers. Just two are of the female persuasion. This amounts to a cool 14%, even less than the female…

Alexander Gauland’s election as party leader confirms the AfD’s shift to the very right

Alexander Gauland's election as party leader confirms the AfD's shift to the very right 3

At today’s AfD conference, Jörg Meuthen has been reelected as one of the the two co-chairs of the party. Although there was no other candidate, he garnered only 72% “yes” votes. Meuthen was once promoted by Petry because of his convenient market liberal profile, but quickly became friendly with the more radical elements. The election…

The AfD is moving further to the right

The AfD is moving further to the right 4

After Frauke Petry, herself not exactly a centrist by conventional standards, has left the party, the rightmost factions in the AfD are becoming even more influential (or perhaps just more visible). The party will elect a new leadership this coming weekend, and Andre Poggenburg will stand as a candidate for deputy party leader. Poggenburg, who…

Ten links on Germany’s WTF moment

Germany, what the actual fuck?

If you have any interest at all in European politics, you will have noticed by now that the pre-coalition talks in Germany have collapsed on November 19. Because this could mean (amongst other things) fresh elections, and because Germans do not normally do crisis these days, and because a paralysed Germany has all sorts of…