Wednesday, June 26, 2013
C2.17 (Oudemanhuispoort)
The Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) has survived transformations in the German political landscape and overcome persistent infighting in order to become the oldest existing right-wing extremist party in Germany. Following the NPD’s electoral victories after the failed attempt to ban the party from 2001-2003, the NPD has seen both its membership and margin of the vote reduced as issues such as Hartz IV and Gerhard Schröder’s Agenda 2010 reforms have ceased to be the most salient political topics in Germany. This analysis argues that the NPD, like many far right parties, has redirected its attention to the Eurozone crisis in order to create new inroads in the German electorate at a time when Germans are becoming more concerned about the country’s ongoing participation in national bailouts. Attacking the EU is a logical target for the NPD, because it allows the party to openly challenge the democratic system in both Germany and Europe, as well as emphasize its longstanding ultra-nationalism. By qualitatively analyzing party manifestos, legislative proposals and press releases since 2008, it is demonstrated that the NPD’s multi-dimensional Euroscepticism serves as the newest catalyst to propagate the party’s traditional, völkisch nationalism. The argument cites two examples, economic and immigration, which the NPD cites as evidence of the EU’s negative role in German political affairs. This analysis is an important addition to the supply-side literature devoted to examining framing techniques among Europe’s far right parties and the nationalist response to the EU.
