"Salz in der Suppe" oder "Klimakiller"? Empirische Befunde zum Wandel der parlamentarischen Streitkultur nach dem Einzug der AfD in die deutschen Landtage

In: Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen, Band 51, Heft 3, S. 622-638

Abstract

In order to analyze whether the entry of the right-wing populist party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) into parliaments has changed parliamentary debate culture a content analysis of budget debates for the period 2012-2017 is conducted, where the frequency of interruptions and the use of uncivil utterances during the speaker's interruption in seven German state parliaments are measured before and after the entry of the AfD . The measured changes to developments in the two German states where the AfD did not succeed in moving into the state parliament are compared . The frequency of interruptions - and thus the conflictual nature of parliamentary debates - has increased as a result of the presence of the AfD . However, there are no indications that the increase in incivility is related to the entry of the AfD into the state parliaments . The likelihood of the AfD's confrontational appearance increases with its parliamentary significance (e .g ., the share of seats) . By contrast, it is irrelevant for the appearance of the AfD in parliamentary debates whether they are more movement-oriented or more parliament-oriented .