HAMBURG — Germany is shifting to the right. This is something we’ve heard before, but which our analysis of party platforms now confirms: Never before has our country‘s political landscape been so blatantly dominated by right-wing positions.
A new study confirms this shift just ahead of national elections on Sunday, following the collapse late last year of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government. The center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) led by Friedrich Merz, is ahead in the polls, with the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) projected to secure second place. It is an election with high stakes for both Germany, which is facing hard questions around the economy and immigration —and the world, particularly in light of Donald Trump’s radical new stance toward Europe.
The rightward tilt is partly due to the rise of the far-right AfD. But other parties have also adjusted their stances, especially the center-right CDU and its Bavarian sister party CSU.
For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.
Our new analysis relies on data from the Manifesto Project, run by the Berlin Social Science Center and the University of Göttingen. The project has scanned all party programs for German federal elections since 1949 and ranked them according to various criteria.
The results of this analysis are significant because these written election platforms are more than mere political declarations of intent. They reflect the state of society and are shaped by the prevailing zeitgeist.
Mirrors of society
A shift to the right in party programs does not happen in a vacuum: It is linked to public discourse, polling data, and, ultimately, the input that the electorate and the broader socio-political landscape provide to the political system.
Germany has changed overall.
Political parties, in turn, influence society with their positions. “People are shaped by what is discussed publicly and in the media, as well as by the issues that parties prioritize,” says Anna-Sophie Heinze, a political scientist at the University of Trier. The more frequently a topic is debated, the more it is perceived as being important — as seen recently with migration. This reciprocal influence is reflected in other studies that have also detected a rightward shift among voters.
Germany has changed overall, and party platforms are merely an expression of that transformation.
Same ideas, different forms
It is worth noting that this right-wing shift takes different shapes depending on party programs. For our analysis, we focused on four right-wing categories identified by the Manifesto Project:
• “Law and Order” (more police, tougher laws, stricter judiciary)
• “Opposition to Cultural Diversity” (calls for cultural homogeneity)
• “Traditional Morality” (against abortion, in favor of traditional family roles)
• “National Pride” (which includes nationalist and patriotic statements).
When examined separately, clear differences emerge between the parties. The Manifesto Project data shows that the AfD emphasizes national identity the most (accounting for 9% of its 2025 election program), along with conservative social policies, such as asserting that “there are only two biological sexes.”
For the CDU/CSU, “Law and Order” dominates (7%). Their current election program even includes a chapter literally titled “Yes to Law and Order.” Political scientist Heinze notes that internal security has been a consistent theme in CDU/CSU programs over the years. In the 1990s, the Union was more right-wing than it is today.
“Back then, it was still a broad-based party aiming to attract diverse voter segments, including staunch conservatives,” Heinze says. Under Angela Merkel, who was leader of the CDU from 2000 to 2018 and chancellor from 2005 to 2021, the party moved in a more liberal direction. In 2017, there was a renewed focus on national positions, but at a relatively low level.
A similar shift can be observed in the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which has increasingly emphasized “Law and Order,” advocating for more police and security personnel. The Greens have taken a comparable stance, supporting stricter gun laws and expanded digital policing. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) prioritizes a “strong criminal justice system” that leverages AI technology. In contrast, the newly founded Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) balances “Law and Order” with national rhetoric, calling for more police, tougher measures against organized crime, and stricter asylum regulations.
Overall, most parties have moved to the right, but aside from the AfD and BSW, their focus is primarily on “Law and Order.” This is unsurprising, given the heightened public concern over internal security, particularly in connection with migration, following violent incidents in cities like Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg and Munich. However, this trend suggests that while German politics has become more right-leaning, it has not necessarily become more nationalist.
Tech and infrastructure
It is also important to note that although right-wing themes occupy a noticeable space in party platforms, they are by no means the most prominent. In fact, “Technology and Infrastructure” remains the most prominent category across nearly all parties. Additionally, each party continues to emphasize its own traditional focus areas: The SPD highlights social justice, the Greens prioritize climate protection, the FDP pushes for reducing bureaucracy, and the Left Party (Die Linke) concentrates on social issues such as gender equality.
It’s a cycle of ups and downs.
For that reason, Heinze refrains from calling the current shift a full-fledged “rightward turn.” Instead, she describes it more as a gradual development. Moreover, Western European societies — despite recent trends — have overall become more liberal since the 1980s.
“It’s a cycle of ups and downs,” Heinze says. Recently, however, the trajectory for right-wing politics has clearly been an upward one.
