Arguing at and about AfD party conferences: Mock battles or intra-party democracy?

The party organisation of populist radical right parties and their ability to recruit capable party members are among the factors that significantly shape their long-term electoral success (Art 2011). Within the party family, great organisational variance can be found: While there are still some strongly centralised parties with a “charismatic” leader, others have tried to build organisations similar to the “mass party” model (Heinisch/Mazzoleni 2016). The Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) represents an exceptional case: It has relied on the strong decentralisation of power and has granted its members numerous rights to have a say. Formally, its party conference is the most important organ where all fundamental organisational and programmatic questions are discussed and voted on. However, AfD’s intra-party organisation and decision-making is still a “black box” – as is the case with most radical right parties. To tackle this research gap, this paper examines the role of party conferences for the AfD’s intra-party decision-making. How do AfD party leaders and members influence intra-party decisions? Which central intra-party conflicts can be identified over time and how horizontally or vertically were they resolved? What understanding of democracy do AfD members express at party conferences, also to distinguish themselves from other parties? Methodologically, the analysis is based on a triangulation of 1) the observation and video analysis of AfD party conferences, 2) a content analysis of media articles as well as AfD activists’ online communication in social networks, and 3) interviews with journalists and AfD party members. The contribution of the study will be twofold: Theoretically, it will link the literature on party organisation, intra-party democracy and the radical right. Empirically, it will show, on the basis of an original dataset on AfD party conferences at the national and subnational level, to what extent the party has involved its members in intra-party decision-making. In this way, the study will also contribute to gaining a better understanding of the populist radical right’s conception of democracy.