The rise of right-wing populism and voting power distribution in German state parliaments

Abstract

ABSTRACT Germany has seen the rise of right-wing populism, similar to various other European countries. A recent example is the emergence of the Alternative for Germany (German: Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) party. Since 2015, the party has had much success in elections. Accordingly, in this article we analyse voting power distribution in German states before and after 2015. Within this analysis, we identify which parties gained and lost voting power. To calculate voting power distribution in parliaments, we use cooperative game theory. In particular, we apply the EC value considering that parties exclude coalitions with other parties. Of course, the methodology presented in this article should not be used for analysis alone but should complement existing analyses (from the fields of demoscopy and political science).