Overview
- In fresh interviews tied to his forthcoming book, historian Jörg Baberowski argues the liberal, representative model is faltering, with Donald Trump in the White House and European populists gaining ground.
- Baberowski contends parties have fused with the state and insulated political careers from electoral risk, urging tighter accountability such as restricting post‑office placements and enforcing finite terms.
- He criticizes the growing sway of unelected institutions, citing the EU Commission and courts, and calls for renewed political contestation that resists casting opponents as illegitimate.
- Writer Marlen Hobrack challenges Jana Hensel’s thesis that East Germans have abandoned democracy, pointing instead to post‑reunification dislocation and weaker trust that correlate with higher AfD support, including roughly a third of votes in Saxony’s 2024 state election across most age groups.
- Hobrack warns that broad anti‑AfD coalitions blur party profiles and risk demobilizing voters, and she notes speculation that a possible AfD win in Saxony‑Anhalt could test institutions.