Why do immigrants support an anti-immigrant party? : Russian-Germans and the Alternative for Germany
Faculty/Professorship: | Political Sociology |
Author(s): | Mayer, Sabrina Jasmin ![]() |
Title of the Journal: | West European Politics |
ISSN: | 1743-9655, 0140-2382 |
Publisher Information: | Basingstoke [u.a.] : Routledge, Taylor & Francis |
Year of publication: | 2023 |
Volume: | 46 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 275-299 |
Language(s): | English |
DOI: | 10.1080/01402382.2022.2047544 |
Abstract: | By reaching a vote share of 12.6 percent in the 2017 federal election, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) ended Germany’s rare status as a Western European polity lacking a significant Populist Radical Right Party (PRRP). Some of this support comes from a group not usually expected to vote for PRRPs: immigrant-origin voters. Recent survey data shows high levels of support for the AfD especially within the group of Russian-Germans – immigrants from the former Soviet Union and its successor states. What motivates these immigrant-origin voters to support an anti-immigrant party? This article argues that support for the AfD – besides immigration-related preferences – can be best explained by their levels of assimilation or incorporation for different domains regarding the mainstream German society. Especially low levels of economic and social integration, and in particular a strong ethnic identity, relate positively to favouring the German radical right. |
GND Keywords: | Russlanddeutsche; Wahlverhalten; Alternative für Deutschland; Bundestagswahl; Geschichte 2017 |
Keywords: | Germany, immigrants, Right Populist Party, integration, election |
DDC Classification: | 320 Political Science |
RVK Classification: | MG 15480 |
Peer Reviewed: | Ja |
International Distribution: | Ja |
Type: | Article |
URI: | https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/54324 |
Release Date: | 7. July 2022 |

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University of Bamberg