Political scientist: East Germany is a harbinger

The Bochum-based political scientist Oliver Lembcke sees the AfD's strong performance in the federal elections as a sign that developments from East Germany are spreading to West Germany. "We have something that is happening in the East, and it is also reaching the West," Lembcke told the German Press Agency in Erfurt. The eastern German states are a kind of harbinger of the direction in which the political system is developing. "In any case, the west is becoming more eastern than the east more western in this way," said Lembcke, who lived and worked in Jena for many years.

Development into a people's party?

This development is not inevitable or irreversible. However, it is evident that party ties are also becoming increasingly loose in the West German states.

The AfD received 20.8 percent of the vote in the federal election, putting it in second place. It became the strongest force in all five eastern German states, with 38.6% in Thuringia. But it also came top in the former SPD stronghold of Gelsenkirchen and in Kaiserslautern with 24.1% and 25.9% respectively.

Increased dissatisfaction

Lembcke said that the AfD was a kind of popular party in eastern Germany. This does not mean that the population in the new federal states is right-wing extremist. But a section of the electorate that has always been far-right has found a political home in the AfD.

In addition, there are voters with a heightened form of dissatisfaction - to the point of rejecting the system. This is also its own form of radicalization, he said. "At some point, you cross a line." However, parts of this electorate are still responsive.

Unreconciliation in the election campaign

In his opinion, the high voter turnout is an expression of polarization and a large mobilization within the respective camps. "This goes hand in hand with a certain irreconcilability across party lines," said Lembcke. In his opinion, the high voter turnout and the fierceness of the election campaign are connected. "One has something to do with the other."