Manifesto Project
manifestoproj.bsky.social
Manifesto Project
@manifestoproj.bsky.social
The Manifesto Project is a research project that collects, analyzes and distributes electoral programs of political parties in nearly 70 countries.
@mikec42.bsky.social's visualization of our data via @tableaupublic.bsky.social has been updated! A great way to get an overview about trends and long-term developments in party competition 📈

Access it here: public.tableau.com/app/profile/...
March 25, 2025 at 11:07 AM
What about democracy as an issue? Despite rising threats from far-right parties & foreign influence on campaigns, democracy plays a smaller role in the 2025 manifestos than in 2021. It is least strongly emphasized by the CDU/CSU, and most strongly by the Greens.
February 18, 2025 at 10:35 AM
"Zeitenwende" in party manifestos? Defense policy gains importance, especially for the Greens compared to previous elections. CDU/CSU & FDP push for a strong military, BSW & Linke advocate for disarmament—though at different levels and with very different emphases.
February 18, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Migration & asylum dominate the public debate but are minor in manifestos—a strategically smart strategy. The more a topic dominates the campaign, the more likely that parties associated with it (for migration & asylum, it is far-right parties such as the AfD) benefit...
February 18, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Economic issues traditionally dominate party manifestos, but 2017 & 2021 saw a focus on sociocultural & valence topics. Sustainability & climate policies gained importance - yet in (economic) crises, major parties often revert to the growth paradigm. This trend is visible in 2025, too.
February 18, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Wie steht es um Demokratie als Wahlkampfthema? Trotz wachsender Bedrohungen durch radikal rechte Parteien & externe Einflussnahmen auf den Wahlkampf spielt das Thema 2025 eine geringere Rolle in den Programmen als 2021. Am wenigsten betont es die Union, am stärksten die Grünen.
February 17, 2025 at 5:16 PM
„Zeitenwende“ auch in den Wahlprogrammen: Verteidigungspolitik gewinnt an Bedeutung, ein merkbarer Wandel besonders bei den Grünen. CDU/CSU und FDP setzen auf militärische Stärke, BSW und Linke auf Abrüstung, allerdings unterschiedlich stark und mit sehr unterschiedlichen Inhalten.
February 17, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Migration & Asyl dominieren aktuell die öfftl. Debatte. Doch in den Wahlprogrammen spielen diese Themen eine untergeordnete Rolle. Strategisch ist das die richtige Entscheidung. Je präsenter ein Thema im Wahlkampf, desto wahrscheinlicher profitieren Parteien, die mit dem Thema assoziiert werden.
February 17, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Ökonomische Themen dominieren Wahlprogramme klassischerweise, doch 2017 & 2021 standen soziokulturelle & Valenzthemen im Fokus. Nachhaltigkeit gewann an Bedeutung – doch in Krisenzeiten kehren (Volks-)parteien oft zum Wachstumsparadigma zurück. Aktuell zeigt sich dieser Trend auch in Deutschland.
February 17, 2025 at 5:16 PM
AfD continues to focus on its core issues, such as:

- “Promoting the national way of life” (nationalism, anti-migration, opposition to diversity)
- “Traditional values” (e.g., on gender roles and family policies)
- Anti-EU stance

However, we observe a broadening of their issue focus.
February 11, 2025 at 5:12 PM
In our blog post, we further provide insights into the issue priorities of the three parties. BSW and Linke both focus on classic left-wing economic issues, but in some cases differ considerably in their substantive demands.
February 11, 2025 at 5:12 PM
From 2013 to 2017, AfD shifted into a right-wing populist party with an anti-migration focus. Since then, its issue spectrum has expanded, leading to slight shifts, but it maintains its core stance on social issues. In 2025, the AfD is more economically liberal than ever before since its foundation.
February 11, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Where do they stand in a 2-dim. party system in 2025? AfD is far-right on both dimensions & most econ.liberal party, just behind FDP. Linke focuses strongly on left-wing econ. policies, socio-cultural issues play a smaller role. But: remains the most universalist party in Germany's party spectrum.
February 11, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Bei der AfD bleiben ihre Kernthemen der „Förderung nationaler Lebensweise“ (Nationalismus, Ablehnung von Migration und Vielfalt), „Traditionelle Werte“ (bspw. in Geschlechter- und Familienfragen) und Anti-EU auch 2025 im Vordergrund. Allerdings sehen wir eine Verbreiterung des Themenspektrums.
February 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Im Blogpost geben wir Einblicke in die Themenprioritäten der drei Parteien. BSW und Linke besetzen beide klassisch linke Wirtschaftsthemen, füllen diese jedoch teils sehr unterschiedlich mit inhaltlichen Forderungen.
February 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Ökonomisch ist die AfD 2025 so marktliberal positioniert wie nie zuvor seit ihrer Gründung.
February 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Die AfD wandelte sich von 2013 bis 2017 zur rechtspopulistischen Partei mit Fokus auf Anti-Migration. Seither erweitert sie ihr Themenspektrum, was zu leichten Verschiebungen führt, behält aber ihre grundsätzliche Haltung zu gesellschaftspolitischen Themen bei.
February 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Positionierung im 2-dimensionalen Raum:
AfD auf beiden Dimensionen weit rechts, marktlib. Partei knapp hinter der FDP. Die Linke setzt stark auf wirtschaftl. linke Themen, die soziokult. Dimension nimmt nur einen kl. Teil des Programms ein. Dennoch die am stärksten universalistische Position.
February 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Am 23. Februar 2025 ist Bundestagswahl in Deutschland – sieben Monate früher als geplant. Wie positionieren sich die Parteien ideologisch, und welche Themen stehen im Fokus? Unser erster Blogpost dazu erscheint morgen! Im Fokus: die Herausfordererparteien! Zum #ManifestoMonday ein kleiner Teaser:
February 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Finally, comparing the saliency of the two dimensions, we find that both of them are roughly equally important, but this has not always been the case: for a long time the socioeconomic dimension used to be more important...
November 5, 2024 at 6:46 PM
The story behind the Republicans' rightward shift on sociocultural issues is different in this regard. They do talk more about issue that are considered authoritarian-conserv. in 2024. Issues that have gained importance in their manifesto are national way of life, law and order and the military.
November 5, 2024 at 6:44 PM
But what explains recent positional shifts? The socioecon. shift to the center by the Democrats seems to be less explained by what they talk about more, but by what they talk about less than in 2020: Issues like education, welfare state expansion and labour groups feature less in 2024 than in 2020.
November 5, 2024 at 6:42 PM
On the sociocultural dimension, the picture is reversed. Here the Republicans have driven polarization by taking more conservative-authoritarian positions...
November 5, 2024 at 6:37 PM
On the socioeconomic dimension, it is the Dem. party that has taken more left positions over the past elections, widening the gap. Their position is, however, still far away from the communist claim made by the Rep. party, but is close to e.g. positions of the German Greens and Social Democrats.
November 5, 2024 at 6:34 PM
Comparing parties' policy positions on the general left-right dimension over the past 100 years, we see that polarization is at an unparalleled height. Over the past elections, the parties have moved further apart...
November 5, 2024 at 6:30 PM