I wrote a piece on the recent rise of the German Green Party – while the far-right AfD makes the headlines, people should also take a closer look at what is happening on the other side of the debate.
For @LSEEuroppblog (also, short thread)
blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/201…
For @LSEEuroppblog (also, short thread)
blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/201…
Now it’s true that, overall, AfD had bigger political impact than Greens on German political landscape over past years – not just bc of their electoral gains (see esp East Germany), but by shifting the overall debate and forcing other parties to adapt.
But there needs to be room for nuance in covering this. If you talk all the time about nativist/far-right AfD being on the rise, esp since last elections, you should also mention the simultaneous success of the liberal, cosmopolitan Green Party since.
After all, the AfD is not the only party rising in the polls since the 2017 federal elections - so have the Greens. As @COdendahl has visualised in a nice graph, they actually even gained more than the AfD.
Even more blatant in Bavaria. Here support for the Greens has doubled since last state elections (8.6% -> 17% today). It’s true that the CSU lost many votes to the AfD here over last years, but now its Greens eating into their voter base. 
Now, to some degree this rise of the Greens is also a consequence of the far right’s success – as CSU shifts its rhetoric to the right in an attempt to win back votes from AfD, it alienates its centrist supporters who see Greens as best alternative.
I’ll probably do something longer on this once Bavarian elections are closer – but for now, read and enjoy (or hate and criticise) my @LSEEuroppblog piece: blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/201…
