Preliminary results of Germany’s federal election are in, and the left-leaning Social Democratic Party has narrowly won the largest share of parliamentary seats.
Mabel Berezin, a comparative sociologist whose research lies at the intersection of cultural and political sociology, says lost in the analysis of the election results is the political entrenchment of the extreme right-wing party.
Berezin says:
“The results in this Sunday’s German Parliamentary Elections are inconclusive in terms of what the governing coalition will look like. The center-left and center-right split the vote virtually 50/50. Lost in the analysis of the election results is the political entrenchment of the extreme right-wing party, the Alternative for Germany (AFD) in the former East Germany.
“Since the 2017 election, the AFD dropped to 10% across Germany, however it is the second largest party tied with the SPD (21% vs. 23%) in the East. In some Eastern regions, the AFD is the leading party – rising as high as 33% in locales around Dresden.
“This is a spectacular result for an extreme right party in a country that had largely banned institutional extremism for the entire post-war period. The AFD is the party with a definitive result – even if it is only a regional one. And that cannot be a good thing.”
For media inquiries, contact Linda Glaser, news & media relations manager, lbg37@cornell.edu, 607-255-8942.
More News from A&S
Simon Wheeler
Milstein student Oscar Wang, left, explains his project to another student at the Milstein Expo.
Dan Rosenberg/Provided
From left, MFA students Gerardo Iglesias, Sarah Iqbal and Aishvarya Arora listen to observations by two young poets at the Ithaca Children’s Garden.
Ryan Young/Cornell University
Semiconductors are at the core of the economy and national security. Their importance makes them a target. Sarah Kreps, director of the Tech Policy Institute in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, discusses how Cornell is helping to keep the semiconductor supply chain safe.
Doug Nealy/Unsplash
The Peace Arch, situated near the westernmost point of the Canada–United States border in the contiguous United States, between Blaine, Washington and Surrey, British Columbia.