Before general elections take place in 2017, Germany's main parties will try to more clearly define their positions after four years in a grand coalition. The main conservative parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), will try to prevent new electoral parties on the right from forming, though rarely have upstart parties actually competed with them.
The situation is more complex for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), whose constituents have grown angry and have since turned to the left-wing Die Linke or to The Greens, an environmental party. Disenchanted CDU and CSU voters have fewer options — or at least they did until the Euroskeptic Alternative for Germany emerged in 2013. The party, which was born as a sophisticated club of university professors campaigning against Germany's membership in the eurozone, soon evolved into an anti-immigration party with a more traditional right-wing agenda. Alternative for Germany's rebranding took place as the anti-Islam Pegida grew more popular.
Germany's history and political culture will prevent Alternative for Germany from entering a coalition government any time soon. However, the party will influence the country's political debate far beyond what its current popularity (around 8 percent) suggests. As the Greek crisis — and especially the immigration crisis — shows, ideology and the fear of losing votes to Alternative for Germany has encouraged CDU and CSU politicians to adopt more nationalist and mildly Euroskeptic positions. Meanwhile, the SPD will have to decide between turning to the left and building a clearer identity or jumping on the Euroskeptic bandwagon.
