No Strong Leaders Needed? AfD Party Organisation Between Collective Leadership, Internal Democracy, and ``Movement-Party'' Strategy

The absence of a charismatic leader and tive,” and reflected the long‐termdissatisfactionwith the the lack of strong centralisation indicates that no single CDU’s “shift to the left” among parts of Germany’s organ‐ faction has managed to dominate the party. [...] The party’s turn to the PRR on the eve of the “refugee The formal and informal organisation of the AfD reflects, crisis” brought further electoral success, yet no inter‐ not necessarily intentionally, the inclusion of a diver‐ nal harmony. [...] InMarch It was dissolved four years later when facing threat of 2018, the party convention eventually reversed the deci‐ observation from the Office for the Protection of the sion, in line with the reality on the ground: With the Constitution. [...] The AfD has always tried to present itself as a party Still, delegate conferences sometimes vote against the cherishing internal democracy, reflecting the party’s will of the party leadership, even on crucial matters: anti‐elitist ideology of representing the interests of “the In April 2021, the party conference decided to include people” against those of the “corrupt elites” (Mudde, the call for. [...] In its 2013 Further evidence points to the relative inclusiveness statute, for example, the AfD described itself as the only of AfD’s party organisation: Of all parties entering the real “alternative” to the non‐transparent, remote and Bundestag in 2017, it was the AfD that involved the high‐ undemocratic “old parties” (Alternative für Deutschland, est share of members in the selection of candidat.