Protest and Electoral Breakthrough: Challenger Party-Movement Interactions in Germany

This paper studies party-movement interactions in Germany, focusing on Die Linke and the AfD, two most recent additions to Germany’s multi-party system. The electoral rise of both challenger parties went along with mass protests, opposition Hartz IV mid-2000s anti-Islamic PEGIDA mobilisation mid-2010s. We shift emphasis from how social movements turn into political parties, including significant organisational personal overlap, more indirect ways protest politics interact. Specifically, we identify a process composed interrelated mechanisms: an external politicisation spiral intra-party innovation spiral. show triggers discursive shifts public sphere internal strategic realignment, providing opportunity for ride wave, secure their competitive advantages, mobilise protestors’ grievances arena. In such way, can take advantage street protests even when they do not directly emerge movement. Methodologically, article is based paired comparison, relying survey data original event analysis that provides novel anti-Hartz Germany.