Henning Schäckelhoff
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency is supposed to defend democracy from extremist threats. But new statistical evidence suggests that branches of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland are most likely to be labelled extremist in regions where the party is electorally strongest. This pattern, says Henning Schäckelhoff, raises a difficult question: is militant democracy protecting the constitution – or shaping political competition? Read more
Lisa Brünig
Germany recently passed incremental liberalisations to its abortion law. Yet access to abortion remains under threat, and far-right and conservative forces blocked its partial legalisation. Lisa Brünig explains how the erosion of reproductive rights in Germany is symptomatic of broader democratic backsliding Read more
Jana Belschner
Jana Belschner analysed 875,000 Twitter exchanges during Germany's 2021 election. Here, she reveals complex patterns in online toxicity between citizens and elites. Politicians’ behaviour matters, but identity markers also shape experiences of digital political toxicity Read more
Marco Improta
Who benefits from feminism, and who loses from it? Marco Improta and Elisabetta Mannoni reveal an ideological gap between young men and women across Europe. This gap – strong in the UK, but absent in Norway – may relate to perceptions of the 'winners and losers' of feminism Read more
John Ryan
The recent municipal election results in North Rhine-Westphalia barely disguise Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s unpopularity. The result offers no respite for the CDU/CSU-SPD government at national level. Bold actions are needed domestically to tackle Germany’s deep and structural challenges, argues John Ryan Read more
Ugur Tekiner
European elections are traditionally seen as less significant than national elections. But Ugur Tekiner argues that the recent challenges facing the EU force us to rethink this classification. Recent European elections accurately reflect the national political mood in Member States, and reveal the growing polarisation around Europe Read more
Lisa Herbig
Covid-19 border closures were intended to protect public health, but their symbolic effects reached far beyond controlling the virus. Lisa Herbig argues that temporary closures significantly weakened support for European unity and increased hostility toward immigrants. Policymakers should bear in mind that even brief border closures notably shape political attitudes Read more
Corinna Kröber
The new German Bundestag will be smaller and more right-wing wing. And it will be more male-dominated. Corinna Kröber and Lena Stephan discuss how the political shift to the right and the new electoral law have influenced this trend, and the potential long-term consequences for women’s political representation in Germany Read more
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