Government and International Relations Faculty Publications

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2026

Comments

This article was originally published in German Politics and Society, Issue 149 Vol. 44, No. 1 (Spring 2026): 84–102 © Georgetown University and Berghahn Books.

doi:10.3167/gps.2026.440105
ISSN 1045-0300 (Print)
SSN 1558-5441 (Online) 

Abstract

In all likelihood, Germany’s 2025 federal election has driven a final nail in the coffin of a party system marked by two traditional catch-all parties and several small parties. The FDP, Greens, AfD, Left Party, and BSW together received a record vote share. However, not all of them were electoral winners. Led by the AfD, smaller opposition parties on the ideological extremes surged, while hinge parties in government lost ground. A clear pole position offered an edge in a polarized and fragmented field. This article examines pre-election developments, manifestos, candidates, results, and outlooks of five parties that have emerged as key players in a party system that shows signs of polarized pluralism.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.