Strategy or Vacuum – Sahra Wagenknecht, The Left and a Left-Authoritarian Party for Germany

The possibility of a new political party can significantly alter the political landscape. In Germany, a new party launched under the leadership of Sahra Wagenknecht. Wagenknecht, former leader of The Left, is known for her opposition to immigration and her left-authoritarian party, BSW, is predicted to be successful in elections. Germany, as many countries in Europe, has a left-authoritarian supply gap. To understand whether the demand for such a party in Germany comes from leadership strategy or due to a vacuum in the party system, this research uses individual-level survey data to identify the demographic, ideological and valence factors that may lead people to vote for this new party. Importantly, this research examines this from two perspectives; asking respondents to rate their propensity to vote for firstly, a party led by Sahra Wagenknecht and second, an abstract left-authoritarian party. This research aims to identify whether the most important factor for the potential success of a Wagenknecht party is defined through her personality or rather through the positions she advocates. Through analysing a variety of different factors that could potentially contribute to the success of this new party, this research examines the relationship between structural, ideological and personality factors that play a role in the formation of a new party.