Scandals surrounding the candidates for the European elections, the classification as a suspected case or the Potsdam meeting – the AfD has recently had to contend with a number of problems. Nevertheless, its membership numbers are increasing.
The AfD has been recording an increasing number of members for some time. There are currently around 48,000 people in the party, according to ARD Capital Studio from federal executive committee circles. According to this, it is expected that the number of members will grow to 50,000 in the next four to eight weeks.
According to the information, the party wants to celebrate the number of members in a public way and thus encourage even more people to join the party. An advertising campaign is to be launched in advance. Plans include a countdown on the homepage and an honoring of the 50,000th member by the party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla at a special event or at a party conference.
A medal or a trophy is also being discussed, or at least a framed autograph for the person. The party is willing to spend several thousand euros on this.
More members despite scandals
Only at the beginning of the year was the AfD able to announce that it had grown to around 40,000 members in 2023, increasing its membership by a third within a year. The problems with its top candidates for the European elections, the defeat against the Office for the Protection of the Constitution before the Higher Administrative Court in Münster regarding its classification as a suspected right-wing extremist case, and also the large demonstrations against right-wing extremist plans to expel migrants do not seem to have changed this.
Just a few years ago, the situation at the AfD looked completely different: Between July 2020 and July 2022, the number of members had fallen significantly – from 33,800 to 28,600.
Profit from social Escalation
Party researchers also explain the current growth by saying that the AfD can benefit from a social escalation. The AfD and the Greens form “the clearest opposite poles in sociopolitical terms,” said political scientist Benjamin Höhne from the University of Magdeburg at the beginning of the year, explaining the rising membership numbers of both parties.
With their programme, the Greens mark libertarian-progressive positions for themselves, while the AfD represents regressive-authoritarian-conservative demands.