The phrase about the daughters sparked a controversial resonance.
German scholars have found that centrist parties allow the far right to dominate political debates by adopting their rhetoric. Chancellor Merz's statements about the "appearance of cities" in Germany are a striking example, experts say.
According to a new study by the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), both right- and left-leaning centrist parties inadvertently strengthen the position of the far right by echoing their ideas and rhetoric in a futile attempt to reduce their support in society.
Centrist Leaders Use Increasingly Harsh Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric
The authors of the paper, published at the end of September in the European Journal of Political Research, based on an analysis of over 500,000 articles published in six German newspapers over 26 years, concluded that not only far-right politicians draw the political center's attention to their agenda—right- and left-leaning centrist parties do as well.
In recent years, the far right has been steadily increasing its influence across Europe, with the right-wing populist British party Reform UK and Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) often leading in opinion polls. This occurs despite—or perhaps because of—the fact that leaders of major centrist parties are trying to gain voter trust by taking increasingly tough measures on migration and using increasingly sharp anti-immigrant rhetoric.
This week in Germany, the use of xenophobic rhetoric became the subject of sharp public debate and, in many circles, outrage, following Chancellor Friedrich Merz's comments about the "appearance of cities" in Germany and the supposed negative influence of immigrants on it. A few days later, when a journalist asked the chancellor what he meant, Merz did not back down from his words: "Ask your daughters what I could have meant."
Does Repeating the Far Right's Theses Only Strengthen Their Position?
Such statements reflect the rhetoric used by leaders of left-leaning parties in other European countries: in May, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, representing the Labour Party, emphasized that without additional measures to limit migration, the country risks becoming an "island of strangers."
A similar statement was made in an interview with Der Spiegel in 2023 by Merz's predecessor as Chancellor of Germany, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz: "We must finally begin mass deportations." Merz made the same promise last week. What is happening seems to indicate that centrist parties believe that the best strategy to combat the rise of the far right is to make tougher statements and take action on migration.
However, according to Teresa Völker, a political scientist at WZB and one of the authors of the new study, this logic is flawed. "If right- and left-leaning politicians try to attract voters with anti-immigration rhetoric, they elevate the significance of the issues that are on the far right's agenda," she argues. "When mainstream political parties repeat the anti-immigrant theses of the far right, they bring such ideas from the marginal sphere into the center of public discussion. Thus, they legitimize the far right and their demands. Those who adopt the interpretive methods and themes characteristic of the far right contribute to the spread of their ideas."
All Parties Must Respond to Societal Demands
Meanwhile, not all experts are convinced by the findings of the WZB study. Uwe Jun, a political scientist at the University of Trier, believes that while Merz's comments about the "appearance of cities" in Germany may polarize society, the political world is much more complex than reflected in the study, and thus politicians have to seek and employ different strategies.
"This is correlation, not causation," the political scientist noted in an interview with DW. "They (the authors of the study) cannot prove that the rise of the far right can indeed be explained by this. Conservative parties, like all others, must respond to societal demands. They have to consider the positions of their supporters and voters, among whom there are many whose views align closely with those of right-wing populist or far-right parties."
According to Jun, it is this reality that places Merz and conservative parties across Europe in a challenging strategic situation: "On the one hand, they want to implement what their voters demand. On the other hand, they are criticized for mimicking right-wing populists."
However, political scientists still disagree on whether there is a direct causal link between the adoption of the language and policies of the far right by traditional centrist parties and the success of the latter. But is there evidence pointing to such a connection?
