Political Science with a Focus on Democratic Political Decision-Making
HPS³ lecture: Bastian Becker (HU Berlin) on "Do Mainstream Parties Lose Support By Cooperating with Far-Right Extremists?"
24 June 2026, 5:15 pm
Photo: privat
As part of the Hamburg Political Science Seminar Series – HPS³, Bastian Becker will speak about his research on whether mainstream parties lose support by cooperating with far-right extremists (co-authored by Anselm Hager).
When? Wednesday, June 24, 2026, 17:15 - 18:45 CET
Where? Von-Melle-Park 9, Room B130 (staircase B), University of Hamburg.
The rise of the far-right poses a dilemma for mainstream parties: avoid cooperation and align with the left, or work with the far-right and tolerate extremism. Does cooperation with the far-right hurt mainstream parties' electoral support? This study makes use of a natural experiment in Germany. In January 2025–less than a month before a contested national election–the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), for the first time, passed a motion with the help of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that citizens became more likely to support the CDU after it decided to informally cooperate with the far-right, while the AfD lost support. We argue that the gain in CDU support is likely due to increased authenticity: The findings suggest that voters reward the CDU for pursuing its agenda openly, even when this results in tactical alignment with the far right.
Please find the seminar program on the HPS³ website. Everyone interested is invited to attend; registration is not necessary.