By Dr Ilter Turan, President of the International Political Science Association and Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Department of International Relations of Istanbul Bilgi University 12 March 2025
The Germans concluded their elections. Although the populist far right Alternative für Deutschland will not participate in forming the government, it came in second. What happened in Germany is happening throughout the democratic world. Everywhere right wing populist parties are on the rise. The traditional parties that we associate with liberal democracy express concern, promising that they will never partner with the “fascists” but in the future there may be no alternative to including them in government as already witnessed in Holland and Austria.
Turning to the US, Trump represents the same type of right-wing populist phenomenon that seems to threaten Western European democracies. Interestingly, Trump and his cronies uttered highly supportive remarks about what the Germans think is the reincarnation of the Nazi party.
While there is talk that democracy as we know it may be coming to an end, it is important to diagnose why the populist right wing parties are on the rise before yielding to what some think as an inevitable fate. We may begin by looking at where the populists get their highest support. In the US, support was strongest not on the states that have shores on the ocean but in central states with stronger rural settlement patterns and more oriented toward exclusively domestic matters. In Germany, what was former East Germany constitutes to strongest base of support for the “fascists.” In both instances, these populations exhibit a strong sense of alienation from the establishment and the ruling elite. In other words, the voters in these areas feel that they are excluded from government or that the government does not pay attention to their interests and concerns. Why?
Some campaign themes indicate the types of concerns that the supporters of right-wing populism entertain. Leading the list is what the voters judge to be uncontrolled immigration. Why? Voters perceive immigrants to be a problem in many ways but I suspect they fear that they are taking away jobs from the locals. Studies show that this fear is not well grounded. Immigrants often take jobs that the locals are not interested in and also they set up additional businesses that enliven local economic life. But these are perceptions and they cannot be ignored.
Economic stagnation also seems to be a major concern that the establishment parties have failed to address eUectively. The Trumpian aspiration to “Make America Great Again” is a promise that segments of the population that have either been rendered redundant because of imports or fear that such a fate is awaiting them, will be incorporated into the economy by preventing “unfair” foreign competition by tariUs. In Germany, the failure of the economy to expand for the third consecutive year, probably fanned frustrations that
unemployment would become a permanent feature of the economy with major toll in the East.
The populist right wing parties in Europe are in many ways against the EU that they feel has intruded in their daily life to their disadvantage, judging that others are receiving the benefits. A similar feeling that the federal government is taking away resources from them and using it to the advantage of others is prevalent among Trump supporters. It should not come as a surprise that that Trump’s men have attacked the agencies of the federal government as bastions of waste, blowing people’s money away. I suspect that the European populists perceive their government in the same light.
One theme that kept coming up in the American campaign was wokism, meaning programs that are devised to improve equality and broaden diversity in various aspects of public life. Apparently, the supporters of Trump judge that these measures have led to the exclusion of qualified persons from government jobs and favored the unqualified on account of race or gender. Although this did not occupy a major place in the campaign in Germany, it is known that many Germans are unhappy that through the EU, they are asked to conform to rules made by those that do not conform to German work ethics and discipline.
A common phenomenon that populist parties complain about is that people are asked to accept without questioning such values as gender equality, sexual preference etc. They are looked down upon if they fail to do so. Many voters entertain doubts about these values but feel under pressure not to express divergent opinions in face of the arrogance of the establishment. The populists have oUered them the opportunity to raise their objections.
There are many others reasons why right wing populism may advance further and threaten the functioning of liberal democracy. If democracy is to be protected, the reasons for the rise of right-wing populism must be studied and addressed by the parties of the democratic establishment. Otherwise, the prophecy that democracy is coming to an end may become a self-fulfilling prophecy,
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