Germany Shows Us How To Contain Extremism

Monika Bauerlein of Mother Jones discusses the benefits of a vibrant multi-party political system like that in Germany – it give voters a choice when expressing dissatisfaction with the party in power. In the recent German election, voters unhappy with the status quo had choices other than just the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. While the AfD did receive around 20 percent of the vote, it means that 80 percent of Germans cast their ballot for other parties.

This is in sharp contrast to the U.S. where today there are only two viable parties, neither of which may reflect where a given voter stands socially or politically.

Eighty percent of Germans voted against the far right. Can that happen here?

A reminder that the small-d democratic tent is big.

Mother JonesMonika Bauerlein

"What should we take away from this for US politics? For one, that people vote in protest for lots of different reasons. It’s a mistake to assume (as Trump and Musk seem to believe, and some in the media too) that a MAGA victory means a MAGA country."

Source tags: Mother Jones, Monika Bauerlein