Persistence and renewal: the German Left Party's journey from outcast to opposition

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    Abstract

    This article examines electoral support for the German Left Party (Die Linke) at the 2013 Federal election. It focuses on two substantive issues. The first is that whilst studies have commonly linked the party’s support to political culture, the party has modernised and it is unclear how this has influenced its support. The second is that the election was held amidst the fallout of the global financial crisis and thus enables us to test if the party benefitted from economic adversity. Using multivariate logistic regression models, these issues are investigated at the individual-level using data from the German Longitudinal Election Study. The results demonstrate that the party’s support is steeped in political culture, but with important east-west variation. Further, there is no evidence that the party attracted support from economically anxious voters. These findings present a basis for broader reflections on the party’s influence on the contemporary political landscape.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)153-172
    Number of pages20
    JournalContemporary Politics
    Volume24
    Issue number2
    Early online date23 Oct 2017
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 15 Mar 2018

    Keywords

    • left parties
    • modernisation
    • elections
    • Germany
    • nostalgia

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