Bard College Berlin News
Combating extremism in the European elections: Dr. Timo Lochocki interviewed for SWR
In discussing Germany’s extreme right-wing party AfD (Alternative for Germany), Lochocki says, “It is an anti-democratic, anti-state party in its basic features.” However, Lochocki notes that the majority of voters are not anti-democratic and anti-state. He references multiple surveys, which find that “70-90% of AfD voters are ‘completely normal democrats,’ who are just angry about how things are going at the moment.” He theorizes that the “breaking point” that will define the AfD’s popularity is whether voters feel that other established parties are listening to their concerns.
So what can democratic parties in Germany, whether left- or right-wing, do about rising extremism? Lochocki provides a few suggestions.
First, he says, “public discourse is needed to tell citizens that the longing to preserve national unity and national identity is a goal of most mainstream German parties.” Unfortunately, he notes that debates around extremist demonstrations have instead insinuated the opposite by opposing all right-wing politics rather than targeting extremism. He says, “We want to stand up against right-wing extremism and want to say to the citizens of Germany that vote for ring-wing extremists, most of whom are quite normally democratic, ‘Your concerns are highly legitimate, you are welcome in politics. So please go back to the CDU, FDP, and SDP.’”
Secondly, parties must focus less on the so-called “culture wars,” and instead discuss “socio-political and economic problems,” of which, Lochocki notes, “there really are enough of in the country.”
Thirdy, another option that is being explored in Germany’s legislature is the possibility to legally ban the AfD. While many disagree with this approach, Lochocki says, “If we are now faced with the choice of whether or not to allow an anti-constitutional party to control the levers of our democracy, I would say that we must now examine all options to get hold of this party in every possible way... because we believe that a party hostile to the constitution is at work here.”
In conclusion, Lochocki reasserts that allowing an anti-constitutional party to hold state power is “a fundamental threat to German democracy.” The two-fold approach Germany must take is to first defend democracy “with all the means at our disposal and with all the rigor of the rule of law,” while also taking note of voters’ concerns so that this does not happen again in three, five, or ten years' time.
A German political scientist and expert on right-wing populism, Lochoki has been working to protect liberal democracies from political extremism through research, teaching, and policy advice for the German Federal Government. He is a commentator for international media on the domestic politics of Western democracies, in particular on the AfD. Since 2023, he has been Head of Democratic Resilience of Western Democracies for the Open Society Foundation (OSF) at Bard College Berlin.
Listen to the entire broadcast episode in German on SWR.
Post Date: 02-16-2024