Connecticut College Digital Commons @ Connecticut College Government and International Relations Faculty Government and International Relations Publications Department Spring 2020 Party-Political Responses to the Alternative for Germany in Comparative Perspective David F. Patton Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/govfacpub Part of the Political Science Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Government and International Relations Department at Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Government and International Relations Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author. Party-Political Responses to the Alternative for Germany in Comparative Perspective Abstract In September 2017, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the first far-right party to join the Bundestag in nearly seventy years. Yet, it was not the first time that a challenger party entered the parliament to the chagrin of the political establishment. After introducing the AfD, the BHE, the Greens, and the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), the article analyzes how established parties treated the newcomers and why they did so. This comparative perspective offers insights into the AfD’s challenge, how distinctive the policies toward the AfD have been, and why the established parties have dealt with the AfD as they have. Keywords Alternative for Germany (AfD), BHE, challenger parties, Greens, Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), populist parties Disciplines Political Science Comments Originally published in German Politics and Society, Issue 134 Vol.