“Fix the fricking economy”: What IamExpat readers think of an AfD ban

Last week, IamExpat launched “Sag mal…”. The new format gives our readers an opportunity to share their thoughts on topical issues in German politics, society and culture. 

For our first edition, we asked whether you thought the German government should take steps to ban the AfD. Here’s what you told us:

AfD’s anti-democratic policies merit a ban

The majority of IamExpat readers who responded to our question believe the German government should take steps to ban the AfD, with most citing the party’s anti-democratic and anti-constitutional policies as legal justification.

“We cannot afford to legitimise a party that is against democracy and anti-constitutional,” one reader responded. “They cannot be empowered by a system they want to dismantle. We should know that by now.”

According to a 2026 study by Germany’s Society for Civil Rights (GFF), the first legal study to examine the AfD’s policies and aims, the far-right party is, as readers pointed out, “driven by a racist worldview and is working systematically to undermine Germany's free democratic order”.

However, no respondents recognised that for a ban to succeed, the federal government would not only have to prove the AfD wants to dismantle the German democratic system, but also that there are “concrete indications” it could achieve these anti-constitutional objectives.

The GFF study did in fact conclude that the AfD has both “the capabilities and strategic means to carry out its aims” and identified five groups whose dignity (Menschenwürde), which is constitutionally protected, would be violated if the AfD took power: Muslims, Germans with a migrant background, people seeking asylum and trans and non-binary people.

Other IamExpat readers pointed out that the AfD is only becoming more transparent with its völkisch nationalist plans. “You can't hide dangerous propaganda under the banner of freedom of speech,” one reader said.

Another reader in favour of a ban said, “If it looks like a Nazi and it quacks like a Nazi but says “I’m not a Nazi,” what should we believe?”

AfD should show its colours at state level

Other readers were more trepidatious about a ban. “My first thought is - yes, YES! But then, just another similar party would form, and we [would be] back at square one”. 

Instead, the reader responded that parties maintaining the firewall should allow the AfD to govern in one of the federal states where it has recently won a state election, such as Saxony-Anhalt or Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

“I think they will do a lousy job. [...] They did overpromise in the campaign. [...] Put up with them for four years, let them show everybody they are big for talking, but not for working,” the reader proposed.

Indeed, while the AfD promised a “180-degree turnaround in migration policy” in Saxony-Anhalt and 43 points of its manifesto are dedicated to immigration policies, many could only be implemented at the federal level or EU level. Meanwhile, the party had just 14 pledges on economic policy and 14 on improving transport and infrastructure.

But speaking to The Local after the AfD’s victory in the eastern state, Ned Richardson-Little, research fellow at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam, said there were “many ways for the AfD to advance many of its most openly anti-constitutional policies on a more gradual basis that would be within the boundaries of the law."

So while an AfD-led state parliament might fall short on promises to make the lives of “German-born” residents easier, it might well succeed in making the lives of migrants and Germans with a recent migration background a lot harder.

Others suggest governing would only make the AfD more popular. A recent study of 1.237 cabinets in 57 democracies between 1976 and 2023 found “no evidence” that government inclusion weakens far-right support. “On the contrary, far-right parties gain in popularity, increasing their vote share by an average of about 6 percentage points in the next election”. 

While some readers found it difficult to weigh up the risks and responsibilities of a ban, others said it was downright undemocratic. “Banning a party favoured by about one quarter of the population would be totally anti-democratic,” one reader said. 

Another said a ban would set a dangerous precedent. “The whole concept of banning someone will be instrumentalised in future by those who hold power in order to keep their power.”

It’s time to try something new

Another common theme among readers was that, instead of banning the AfD, German politicians should urgently try something new to address Germany’s polycrisis.

The reader who said the AfD should be put to the test by governing Saxony-Anhalt added that at the same time, “democratic parties must stop the traditional political BS” and “start listening to the voters and have the courage to implement real changes”. 

Another reader was more to the point on exactly what those real changes should be: “FIX THE FRICKING ECONOMY? Especially in the East?”

Over 30 years after reunification, a wage gap between former eastern and western federal states of around 15 percent persists (with the exception of Berlin). 

Eastern states are also hit harder by the skilled worker shortage. According to an ifo study, in the first quarter of 2024, 42,1 percent of companies in eastern Germany stated that their business was affected by a lack of skilled personnel; the figure for Germany as a whole was 36,3 percent.

Evidence also suggests that when voters feel their access to fundamental infrastructure and services, such as housing and healthcare, is threatened, they are more likely to sympathise with AfD policies.

According to a study by the Centre for European Social Studies (MZES) at the University of Mannheim, low-income residents in German cities are more likely to support the AfD if they live in areas with fast-rising rents.

Government figures show that in 14 of the 15 largest German cities - Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Dortmund, Essen, Bremen, Dresden, Nuremberg and Duisburg - rents rose by an average of 44 percent between 2016 and 2025.

The MZES study found that if the average rent in a low-income tenant's local area increases by at least one euro per square metre (sqm), they are 4 percentage points more likely to support the AfD in a survey.

According to another new report by the German Tenants’ Association, 50 percent of renters worry that their next home search will be unsuccessful and 29 percent are worried they won’t be able to pay their rent in the future.

Thank you to everyone who took part in our survey.