AGI

Society, Culture & Politics

The AGI Society, Culture & Politics Program focuses on crucial topics within the German-American dialogue, including: demographic change, migration/integration, and aging societies; electoral politics at the national, state, and European levels, and comparative analysis of Germany and the United States; diversity within Germany, Europe, and the United States; the politics of collective memory and identity, Holocaust remembrance and reconciliation, and shifting conceptions of national identity that shape perspectives and policy responses.
Reset

Austria’s Political Paralysis

A Warning for Germany Germany’s recent federal election saw the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) double its vote share, reaching a record high. Meanwhile, neighboring Austria remained paralyzed for five …

Episode 123: An Expanding German Memory Culture

For decades, memory culture in Germany has largely focused on coming to terms with and memorializing the Holocaust. In recent years, however, memory discourses have expanded to include, among others, …

Men’s and Women’s Political Representation in the 2025 German National Election

The 2025 German national election entrenched men’s dominant position in German politics and represented a setback for women’s political participation in the Federal Republic. In terms of descriptive representation—the percentage …

AGI Experts on the German Elections

The governing coalition in Berlin collapsed in November 2024, and Germany held snap elections in February 2025. AGI experts have contributed to multiple media reports explaining and analyzing Germany’s political …

The Surprising Reincarnation of the German Left Party

It was Mark Twain who allegedly claimed that rumors of his death had been greatly exaggerated. The leaders of Germany’s Left Party (Die Linke) don’t quite have Twain’s name recognition, …

Episode 122: The German Bundestag Election Results

Shortly after the polls closed in Germany, Jeff Rathke, Eric Langenbacher, and Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger discussed the results of the snap elections. They give their reactions to the performance of the …

The End of Modell Deutschland?

It has become abundantly clear that both the United States and Germany are going through their own versions of a Zeitenwende. Marc Fischer points out how both countries have been …

AGI Profiles: Markus Frohnmaier

Member of the Bundestag; AfD State Chairman in Baden Württemberg In January 2025, local Alternative for Germany (AfD) party members in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, placed fake Abschiebetickets—one-way deportation flight tickets—in the …

Some Small-Town Reflections on Catechism 2.0

When it came to German memory, the language of Dirk Moses’s initial contribution to what subsequently became the so-called Catechism debate was replete with references to a priestly cast, priestly …

A Guide to German Party Election Platforms 2025

Christian Democratic Union (CDU): “Policy Change for Germany” Campaign Platform Foreign Policy and Security Continue support for Ukraine and Israel. Commit to NATO’s 2 percent defense goal. Strengthen transatlantic partnerships, …

Holocaust Memory after Gaza

Toward a New Epistemology of the Minority Question How does one intervene in “the Catechism Debate” when it has caused such polemics? Dirk Moses’ piece “The German Catechism” was published …

The Far-Right Vorfeld and Its Ideological Influence on the AfD

Compared to other contemporary German parties, the Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany, AfD) is profoundly influenced by external actors operating outside its formal institutional structure. This dynamic reflects the …