Political Entrepreneurship in the Age of Dealignment

Reviews / Votes

"This highly insightful and creative book on the rise of the Alternative for Germany is a must-read for scholars and students seeking to understand far-right electoral appeal. Analysing survey data and campaign posters, the authors convincingly show how far-right parties can strategically exploit a variety of political issues over time without necessarily becoming more moderate." (Manes Weisskircher, Social Science Center Berlin, Germany; TU Dresden, Germany; and the Center for Research on Extremism, Norway)
"In light of the increased support for the far-right Alternative for Germany, Michael A. Hansen and Jonathan Olsen's Political Entrepreneurship in the Age of Dealignment: The Populist, Far-right Alternative for Germany is the right book at the right time. This is the first study to provide detailed analysis of the party's performance in the three federal elections since its founding, with the elections marking the AfD's emergence (2013), breakthrough (2017) and sustainment (2021). The authors argue that its success has been due to successful issue entrepreneurship and ideological agility through exploiting, inventing, or performing various crises. A changed political opportunity structure - including the erosion of the culture of contrition, political dealignment and unoccupied partisan space - are also shown to be crucial factors. This book combines sophisticated statistics (AfD voters are not losers of modernisation), qualitative analyses (shifting emphases in campaign posters) and cutting-edge theoretical and conceptual perspectives. It should be required reading for anyone interested in German and European politics, and the recent success of populist, radical-right parties." (Eric Langenbacher, Teaching Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University, USA; and Director of the Society, Culture, and Politics Program, American-German Institute, USA)

"Why and how hasthe Alternative for Germany been able to achieve unprecedented electoral success while radicalising further to the right in a country where such a move would be expected to face substantive political ramifications? In their highly insightful book, Hansen and Olsen analyse an array of primary data on the party's evolving electoral base, strategies and internal politics to answer this question. Providing a comprehensive account of the AfD's development over time and in contrast to previous far-right parties in Germany, Hansen and Olsen show how and why the AfD's entrepreneurial strategy in response to different crises is crucial to understand the party's emergence, breakthrough and sustainment. The result is an authoritative book for anybody interested in German politics, political parties and the radical right more broadly." (Matthias Dilling, Lecturer, Swansea University, UK)