The Party without Qualities?

In the 2021 German federal election, Left Party suffered its worst electoral defeat ever. Although it hemorrhaged voters to all parties, losses Social Democrats and Greens were particularly large. this article, we examine reasons behind Die Linke’s poor performance. a number of factors may have played small roles, hypothesize that most important by far was Party’s failure distinguish itself in policy positions from chief rivals on center left left. Using data Comparative Manifesto Project (cpm) Chapel Hill Expert Survey (ches), demonstrate lack issue ownership distinct ideological profile 2021. Consequently, argue Linke gave few vote for it.