CHANGE OF IDEOLOGICAL PROFILE AND STRUCTURE OF THE POLITICAL PARTY ELECTORATE FOR GERMANY

Germany's political landscape has changed considerably in the wake of the federal election held in September 2017. Despite worries related to disenchantment with politics (Politikverdrossenheit), the voter turnout rose almost by 5 percent. However, the voter mobilization has not worked for the benefit of two main political parties in Germany, as Christian and Social Democrats suffered significant losses. On the contrary, Liberals from the FDP were able to return to parliament after a four-year hiatus and Alternative for Germany, labelled as a populist, radical, eurosceptic or a far-right party, passed the electoral threshold for the first time. Germany has long been seen as an island of political stability and a country where extreme right ideas have been successfully marginalized. A far-right political subject has never before entered parliament, thus AfD gets significant attention in the public discourse as well as in academia. The aim of this article is to describe the process of internal party transformation from its beginnings in 2013 until the 2017 federal election and to outline some intricacies with determining family affiliation of this political party.