Opinion: Populism didn’t give us far-right parties, ineffective governing did

Why do far-right parties come to power and why is European popular opinion shifting to the far end of the right?

In the late spring months of 2000, a Germany engulfed by a political crisis would come to an end. CDU chairman Wolfgang Schäuble was forced to resign due to a party funding scandal, which compromised many other prominent CDU figures including former chancellor Helmut Kohl. This is where a relatively young Angela Merkel steps into the spot light, she’s ready to take charge. Merkel publicly criticises the CDU leadership, abandoning her old mentor in doing so. Angela Merkel is an experienced politician that has been a minister and holds a great understanding of the CDU and its inner workings. It works, that late spring month of 2000 marked the end of an era and subsequently the beginning of a new one. A distinguished and prosperous one or at least for the person in charge, Angela Merkel. Just five years later she leads her party to victory and gains the chancellorship, a title she would hold for sixteen years.

Known as the de facto leader of Europe, called the leader of the free worldand perhaps most importantly recognised for her successful governing. Her record proves this whether it be the migration crisis, the pandemic, or her handling of diplomacy, always knowing that talking is better than fighting.

When Germans thought of their chancellor many would answer “Mutti” or mother for all you English speakers out there. Why this peculiar answer? Because for Germany at large, it felt as if she was looking out for them and was creating a new Germany in a way non of her predecessors had, hence the nickname Mutti.

The reason that I tell you this is; whether you liked her or not you cannot disagree with the polls, she managed to keep the far-right AfD from climbing the polls. The AfD spent most of their time during her tenure (in the polls) at a distant fourth or even fifth place. But today for the first time the AfD are the second largest party in the aforementioned pollster, doubling since the last election. Why? Did Germany take such a leap to the far end of the right or is there something else at play? There is, and it’s called bad governing.

Since the 2021 federal election, the German political scene has been more of a circus than anything else. The governing parties don’t have the same dialog with each other that Merkel did, nor the same experience. This is what pushes populism and far-right parties up in the polls, ineffective governing or in other words bad governing. Merkel did make mistakes that certainly have made some of today’s crises worse, as too heavily relying on Russian gas. However, Merkel to differ from Scholz (her predecessor) had a calm and reassuring leadership style which nearly always prevailed in the minds of Germans. The difference is how they operate alongside their respect and belief of what the chancellor is and must do. Merkel knew better than anyone that embracing inclusion was undoubtedly the most effective approach. As a product of East German society, she was taught from a very young age that the government is your opinion. This is why she didn’t scold people for voting with the AfD but rather asked a question; why? This approach of inclusion rather than exclusion made many voters not dig in and forever stick to the AfD.

“There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America. There’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.” — Barack Obama the fortyfourth president of the United States speaking at the democratic national convention of 2004.

There is only one America, only one Germany therefore we must learn to accept each other and our diverging opinions. To dig in and talk ill of those who oppose our opinions is to further the intolerance and polarisation of our nation-states. This is what creates these two different countries within a country. Merkel asked why and didn’t talk badly of those who voted for the AfD, she took their concerns seriously and acted upon them which the public saw. The AfD and its most important questions became irrelevant and therefore so did the party, meaning that they dropped in the polls. Today their message has been revitalised as the governing parties struggle to control and calm the public about the crises ravaging the country.

On the European level, we find exemplary examples of countries with effective governing and the corresponding low polling of far-right parties and countries with noneffective governing and the correlating high polling of far-right parties. The example above about Angela Merkel might as well have been Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Mark Rutte (who began to regain control of the polls), Fredrik Reinfeldt (who failed later on), and Pedro Sánchez with many more options. People who wouldn’t be good examples are Emmanuel Macron whose reforms take too long and are therefore classified as ineffective governing by the public, the many Swedish PMs:s of late who have been in a deadlock as they can’t gain a majority or work across political borders (as Merkel did), or even worse when the establishment seems so ineffective (sometimes because the far-right party is blocking a majority from forming) that the far right party takes control and looks to be more effective than the establishment and go on to be continuously re-elected

The fact of the matter is: when the establishment is effective and is working for the people they will continuously regain the trust and confidence of the people, but when the establishment isn’t working voters will without a doubt look elsewhere until the establishment once more can prove itself as effective, at you guessed it governing.