Right-Wing Governments: Let Them Govern Already? That Will Backfire

“Let them govern already.” The phrase has returned with new urgency after the AfD won 43.8% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, leaving the state with unclear majority conditions.

Depending on who says it, the sentence can sound triumphant, calm, bewildered or resigned. But among those who do not support the AfD, it usually carries the same hope: that the party would discredit itself once it had to govern.

The argument is now heard in television talk shows, at garden fences, in family WhatsApp groups and in newspaper commentaries. Its appeal is straightforward. If the AfD had to move from opposition rhetoric to practical government, its supporters might see the limits of its promises and the consequences of its policies.

The article argues that this expectation is misplaced. Research, it says, is clear that far-right parties do not discredit themselves simply by taking part in government. The people repeating the phrase are hoping for rules that no longer apply to the AfD, even though the available evidence points in the opposite direction.