Die LINKE – Left-wing populism made in
Germany?
Presentation at the Round Table „Trends in the
transformation of the German political party system:
Reasons and Consequences”
Sophie Haring
University of Passau
Passau, 08/12/2015
Contents
Left wing populism made in Germany?
①Populism – an elusive concept in political science
②Die LINKE
①Genesis and development
②Electoral outcomes
③Populist chatacteristics
④Leftist populsits in Europe: promise or threat?
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
1
Theoretical framework
Populism
To each his own definition of populism, according to the
academic axe he grinds.
(Wiles 1967)
An appeal to “the people” against both the established
structure of power and the dominant ideas and values of the
society.
(Canovan 1999)
Discursive strategy:
the people against ruling elites
No possible consensus
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
2
Die LINKE – development
Historical overview
2004 fraction
1989
2007
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
3
Die LINKE – development
Party membership 1990 - 2014
300000
280.882
Anzahl der Linke-Parteimitglieder
250000
200000
172.579
150000
100000
146.742
131.406
123.751
114.940
105.029
98.624
78.046
94.627
88.594
83.475
73.658
77.845
75.968
60.338
71.711
70.805
69.458
65.753
61.38561.270
63.756
63.761 60.547
50000
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Statista/ FU Berlin (Otto-Stammer-Zentrum) 2014
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
4
Die LINKE – electoral outcomes
Electoral outcomes, national level
14,0%
11,9%
12,0%
10,0%
Anteil der Stimmen
8,7%
8,6%
8,0%
6,0%
5,1%
4,4%
4%
4,0%
2,4%
2,0%
0,0%
1990
1994
1998
2002
2005
2009
2013
Der Bundeswahlleiter 2013
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
5
Die LINKE – development
Die LINKE - seats in the current German Bundestag
300
255
250
193
Anzahl der Sitze
200
150
100
64
63
56
50
0
CDU
SPD
Linke
Grüne
CSU
Der Bundeswahlleiter 2013
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
6
Die LINKE – electoral outcomes
Gains and losses in the national elections 2013
200000
Anzahl der ab- oder zugewanderten Wähler
100000
90.000
0
-40.000
-100000
-120.000
-200000
-300000
-320.000
-340.000
-370.000
-400000
FDP
Grüne
CDU/CSU
Nichtwähler
AfD
SPD
Ziel- bzw. Herkunftsparteien
Der Bundeswahlleiter 2013/ spiegel.de
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
7
Die LINKE – political successes in federal states
Results in regional elections (Landtagswahlen)
until May 2015
30,0%
28,2%
25,0%
23,7%
Stimmenanteile
20,0%
18,6%
18,9%
18,4%
16,1%
15,0%
11,7%
10,0%
9,5%
8,5%
5,2%
5,0%
3,1%
2,1%
2,5%
2,8%
2,3%
3%
0,0%
Source: wahlrecht.de/ Landeswahlleiter (diverse)
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
8
Die LINKE – political successes in federal states
Government role
0
1
Anzahl der Koalitionen
3
2
4
SPD, Grüne
5
6
5
CDU, SPD
3
SPD, CDU
2
CDU, Grüne
1
SPD, Linke
1
SPD, Grüne, SSW
1
Grüne, SPD
1
Linke, SPD, Grüne
1
Alleinregierung CSU
1
Source: Bundesrat (www.bundesrat.de)
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
9
Left-wing populism
Partial populism
established party
identification of a powerful elite, apart and cut off from a
popular majority
but: rarely “the people”, rather: heterogeneity
Die Mehrheit des Volkes lehnt die von den Eliten in Parteien
und Medien vertretene neoliberale Politik ab.
(Lafontaine 2005)
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
10
Outlook
Populism – here to stay?
However, because of the structural changes, and the
consequent move away from legal authority and toward
charismatic authority, as well as the demystification of
politics in Western liberal democracies, populism will be a
more regular feature of future democratic politics, erupting
whenever significant sections of ‘the silent majority’ feels
that ‘the elite’ no longer represents them.
(Mudde 2004)
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
11
Literature
Sources
Canovan, Margaret (1999): Trust the people! Populism and the two faces of
democracy, in: Political Studies XLVII, 2-16;
Lafontaine, Oskar (2005): Politik für alle. Streitschrift für eine gerechte
Gesellschaft. Econ, Berlin;
Mudde, Cas (2004): The Populist Zeitgeist, in: Government and Opposition Vol. 39
No. 4, 541-563
Wiles, Peter (1969): A Syndrome, not a Doctrine. Some Elemental Theses on
Populism, in: Ionescu, Ghita/ Gellner, Ernest (Eds.), Populism; its meaning and
national characteristics. Macmillan, New York, 166-179.
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
12
Literature
Statistics and graphs can be found at
Slide 4
http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/192246/umfrage/mitgliederentwi
cklung-der-linken
Slide 5
http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/368864/umfrage/stimmenanteile
-der-linken-bei-den-bundestagswahlen
Slide 6
http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/273040/umfrage/endergebnisder-bundestagswahl
Slide 7
http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/37834/umfrage/waehlerwanderu
ng-bei-die-linke-bei-der-bundestagswahl
Slide 8
http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/73680/umfrage/koalitionen-inden-bundeslaendern
Slide 9
http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/249923/umfrage/ergebnisseder-linken-bei-den-landtagswahlen
08/12/2015
Sophie Haring
| Die LINKE: Left-wing populism made in Germany?
|
University of Passau
13