Don’t be distracted by ‘earthquakes’ in recent elections. Swings to the far honest or left are only one part of the bigger pictureAfter months of speculation approximately a “far-honest surge in Bavaria,the final result of the Alternative for Democracy (AfD), coming “just” fourth, and with 10.2% of the vote,was a bit of an anticlimax. Not for many international media, however, and which quickly shifted gear to their other favourite frames. As US media went for their familiar “political earthquake” frame,rightwing UK media once again speculated on the demise of their nemesis, Chancellor Angela Merkel.While there are essential local particularities to the Bavarian elections, and most notably the finish of the final democratic one-party system in Europe,the results reflect a broader European pattern of fragmentation and volatility that is often missed by the obsessive focus on the “rise of populism” narrative.
Few party systems still have one, let alone two, or parties that gain more than a third of the vote Related: Germany’s far honest never went away,but festered in its eastern stronghold | James Hawes Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com