No Strong Leaders Needed? AfD Party Organisation Between Collective Leadership, Internal Democracy, and “Movement-Party” Strategy

This article analyses the formal and lived organisation of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD, Alternative for Germany). We show that the party is exceptional among what is usually understood as the populist radical right (PRR) party family, at least from an organisational perspective: The AfD sha...

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Auteurs principaux:	Anna-Sophie Heinze, Manès Weisskircher
Format:	article
Langue:	EN
Publié:	Cogitatio 2021
Sujets:	afd intra-party democracy leadership movement-party party organisation populism radical right Political science (General) JA1-92
Accès en ligne:	https://doaj.org/article/cb9a0b4c60f24d1ebaf72cbe10690e10
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cb9a0b4c60f24d1ebaf72cbe10690e102021-11-24T11:48:17ZNo Strong Leaders Needed? AfD Party Organisation Between Collective Leadership, Internal Democracy, and “Movement-Party” Strategy2183-246310.17645/pag.v9i4.4530https://doaj.org/article/cb9a0b4c60f24d1ebaf72cbe10690e102021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4530https://doaj.org/toc/2183-2463This article analyses the formal and lived organisation of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD, Alternative for Germany). We show that the party is exceptional among what is usually understood as the populist radical right (PRR) party family, at least from an organisational perspective: The AfD sharply contradicts the “standard model” of PRR party organisation, which emphasises “charismatic” leadership and the centralisation of power as key features. Instead, studying the AfD’s efforts to adopt some elements of a mass-party organisation and its relatively decentralised decision-making underlines the importance of “movement-party” strategy, collective leadership, and internal democracy—concepts that are usually associated with Green and left-wing parties. Our analysis shows how the party’s organisation is essential for understanding its development more broadly as it reflects and reinforces sharp intra-party conflict. From this perspective, the case of the AfD sheds new light on the relationship between PRR party organisation and electoral success, indicating the importance of strong ties to parts of society over effective internal management as long as demand for anti-immigration parties is high. We conclude that even though AfD quickly built up a relatively inclusive organisational structure, the role of both its leadership and its rank-and-file is still a matter of controversy.Anna-Sophie HeinzeManès WeisskircherCogitatioarticleafdintra-party democracyleadershipmovement-partyparty organisationpopulismradical rightPolitical science (General)JA1-92ENPolitics and Governance, Vol 9, Iss 4, Pp 263-274 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	afd intra-party democracy leadership movement-party party organisation populism radical right Political science (General) JA1-92
spellingShingle	afd intra-party democracy leadership movement-party party organisation populism radical right Political science (General) JA1-92 Anna-Sophie Heinze Manès Weisskircher No Strong Leaders Needed? AfD Party Organisation Between Collective Leadership, Internal Democracy, and “Movement-Party” Strategy
description	This article analyses the formal and lived organisation of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD, Alternative for Germany). We show that the party is exceptional among what is usually understood as the populist radical right (PRR) party family, at least from an organisational perspective: The AfD sharply contradicts the “standard model” of PRR party organisation, which emphasises “charismatic” leadership and the centralisation of power as key features. Instead, studying the AfD’s efforts to adopt some elements of a mass-party organisation and its relatively decentralised decision-making underlines the importance of “movement-party” strategy, collective leadership, and internal democracy—concepts that are usually associated with Green and left-wing parties. Our analysis shows how the party’s organisation is essential for understanding its development more broadly as it reflects and reinforces sharp intra-party conflict. From this perspective, the case of the AfD sheds new light on the relationship between PRR party organisation and electoral success, indicating the importance of strong ties to parts of society over effective internal management as long as demand for anti-immigration parties is high. We conclude that even though AfD quickly built up a relatively inclusive organisational structure, the role of both its leadership and its rank-and-file is still a matter of controversy.
format	article
author	Anna-Sophie Heinze Manès Weisskircher
author_facet	Anna-Sophie Heinze Manès Weisskircher
author_sort	Anna-Sophie Heinze
title	No Strong Leaders Needed? AfD Party Organisation Between Collective Leadership, Internal Democracy, and “Movement-Party” Strategy
title_short	No Strong Leaders Needed? AfD Party Organisation Between Collective Leadership, Internal Democracy, and “Movement-Party” Strategy
title_full	No Strong Leaders Needed? AfD Party Organisation Between Collective Leadership, Internal Democracy, and “Movement-Party” Strategy
title_fullStr	No Strong Leaders Needed? AfD Party Organisation Between Collective Leadership, Internal Democracy, and “Movement-Party” Strategy
title_full_unstemmed	No Strong Leaders Needed? AfD Party Organisation Between Collective Leadership, Internal Democracy, and “Movement-Party” Strategy
title_sort	no strong leaders needed? afd party organisation between collective leadership, internal democracy, and “movement-party” strategy
publisher	Cogitatio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/cb9a0b4c60f24d1ebaf72cbe10690e10
work_keys_str_mv	AT annasophieheinze nostrongleadersneededafdpartyorganisationbetweencollectiveleadershipinternaldemocracyandmovementpartystrategy AT manesweisskircher nostrongleadersneededafdpartyorganisationbetweencollectiveleadershipinternaldemocracyandmovementpartystrategy
_version_	1718415076160962560

No Strong Leaders Needed? AfD Party Organisation Between Collective Leadership, Internal Democracy, and “Movement-Party” Strategy

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