One of the most notable features of recent European elections has been the electoral success of right-wing populist parties. At the German federal elections 2017, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) gained 13 per cent of the vote. As a result, for the first time in the history of the Federal Republic, a far-right party was able to enter the Bundestag. Meanwhile, in Austria, where right-wing populist parties have been more successful long since, the Freedom Party (FPÖ) won 26 per cent of the vote, one of its best results in history. Using data from the 2017 German and Austrian national election studies (GLES & AUTNES), this paper compares the similarities and differences in the determinants of the vote for right-wing populist parties in these two countries. We examine the socio-demographic as well as established attitudinal roots that nurture the vote for the right-wing populist parties. Among other things, we also investigate to what extent negative attitudes towards Grand coalitions and consensus democracy empowered the fringes. The results will to what extent voting for right-wing populist parties at the German and Austrian national elections 2017 was driven by a set of common factors, yet also by some country-specific patterns. Overall, the paper contributes to the ongoing debates about the rise of right-wing populist parties and democracy in Europe.
