As in all parties that promote radicalism, the far-right, xenophobic, and populist party AfD is a mishmash, bringing together heterogeneous components with the common goal of replacing other parties or political movements in power.
Just after Sunday’s election, cracks are appearing in this assemblage of men and women politicians united by a single motivation: the hatred of foreigners.
A common denominator, useful for opposing, but not sufficient to define a political line between nationalist conservatives, nationalist Christians, liberals, and identitarians.
Moreover, as in all similar cases, success brings to light the existence and differences between the “ideologues” on one side and the “careerists” on the other.
The careerists take advantage of the fact that the ideologues break taboos and, conversely, the ideologues benefit from the fact that the careerists support the bourgeois facade of the party.
A third group must be added to them, that of the “idealists”: often older, well-intentioned individuals who have been disappointed by other parties and sincerely wish to solve concrete problems, especially at the local level.
