Moderate in power, populist in opposition? Die Linke’s populist communication in the German states

Abstract

The inclusion-moderation thesis suggests that populist parties will be ‘tamed’ by governing, as they must compromise to participate in coalitions. Consequently, they are expected to be more moderate compared to populist parties in opposition. However, empirical evidence for the moderation of populist communication is mixed. Moreover, existing research has focused on right-wing populism, leaving the question open if left-wing populist parties behave differently. This article addresses this question by analyzing political communication from the sixteen state chapters of the German left-wing populist party Die Linke. While a populist party has not yet governed in Germany at the federal level, Die Linke has a record of government in five federal states. Thus, conditions are ripe for an empirical test of inclusion-moderation as the party’s political position varies strongly from state to state, ranging from extra-parliamentary opposition to senior coalition partner. The analysis applies a multiword populism dictionary to five years of party Facebook communication and finds that Die Linke uses populist communication less frequently when governing and in East Germany, where it is more well-established. The conclusion calls for more in-depth research on the changes in populist communication between government and opposition, which should also tackle the question of causality.