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This paper examines the strong support for Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) from lower socio-economic groups like blue collar workers and the unemployed in Germany, who would be most economically weakened by the radical market-oriented policies of this party. The AfD has achieved remarkable electoral successes within a short period of time, with the main basis of the support it receives coming from the above-mentioned demographic groups. These are not the dominant segment or the majority of all the supporters of the AfD, but they provide a considerable proportion of the party’s votes and are the groups which display the highest approval ratings for the AfD. Their support is quite surprising, given the fact that the economic, labor, welfare and tax policies of the party are very market-oriented. In this light, this paper focuses on the major factions (the economic liberal and the national conservative) and main agenda items (opposition to the euro and antipathy to immigration and refugees) of the AfD, and demonstrates the discrepancies between the party’s policy goals and the circumstances and needs of the core groups which support the party. The two internal party factions prioritize different agendas, though they are both fundamentally opposed to the existing euro system and the influx of immigrants and refugees to Germany. The party’s radical market-oriented policies were devised under the influence of the eurosceptic economic liberalism which played a leading role in the party’s foundation and in its initial phase. However, even in the early period when it drew most attention as an anti-euro party, the AfD owed its electoral successes to its anti-immigration and anti-refugee stance rather than to its anti-euro position. The former issues were more emphasized by the national conservatives within the party after they won the ideological struggle with the economic liberals. The anti-immigrant and anti-refugee policies first appealed to blue collar workers and the unemployed. In addition, their support was mobilized effectively by the election strategy of the AfD, which campaigned mainly on an anti-immigration and anti-refugee platform, and obscured or de-emphasized the radical market-oriented policies of the party.

asian journal of german and european studies

The radical market-oriented policies of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and support from non-beneficiary groups – discrepancies between the party’s policies and its supporters