From a Five to a Six-Party System? Prospects of the Right-wing Extremist NPD

Bibliographic Data

ID3664629
AuthorsFrank Decker (0000-0002-5493-3426, corresponding author), Lazaros Miliopoulos
Year2009
Volume27
Issue2
Pages92-107
Publication date2009-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGerman Politics & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1045-0300 • E-ISSN: 1558-5441
PublisherBerghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3167/gps.2009.270207
OpenAlexW2071200243
LanguageEN
Citations received8

Right-wing extremist and populist parties operate in a rather difficult social and political environment in Germany, rendering notable electoral success fairly improbable, especially when compared to other European countries. The main reason for this is the continuing legacy of the Nazi past. Nevertheless the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) managed to gain substantial votes in recent Land elections and became the leading force in the right-wing extremist political camp. Its success is attributable to rightwing extremist attitudes in some parts of the electorate in connection with a widespread feeling of political discontent. Nevertheless, it is questionable whether the NPD will be able to transform these attitudes into a viable ideological basis for two main reasons. On the one hand, maintaining a neo-Nazi ideology makes the NPD unattractive to many potential voters. On the other hand, given its internal power struggles and severe financial problems, the party may be unable to meet its challenges in organizational terms

Democracy · Feeling · Ideology · Nazism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · German legal, social, and political studies · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Social Psychology

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