"Where people in the countryside feel left behind populism has a clear path" - an analysis of the popular media discourse on how infrastructure decay, fear of social decline, and right-wing (extremist) values contribute to support for right-wing populism

Feelings of being 'left behind,' which, according to the discourse, can be found especially among people in rural areas, are often cited as an explanation for the success of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in the 2017 federal elections. The concept of being 'left behind' has not been scientifically defined. Therefore, in this Thünen Working Paper, I examine systematically what meanings are discursively attached to the expression being 'left behind' in the context of the success of the AfD in the 2017 elections, and the rural regions and in which these connections are embedded. For this analysis, Iuse the methodology of Grounded Theory. The material corpus consists of 233 articles (online and print) of the popular media discourse. In addition to examining articles from national daily and weekly newspapers, I have included in my analysis articles from regional newspapers, and, through an online search, magazine articles and occasional television and audio reports. My review of the print media was limited to reports that appeared in the third and fourth quarters of 2017. In the abovementioned context, three different discursive forms of being 'left behind' – economically, culturally, and in access to infrastructure – become evident. Being 'left behind' goes hand in hand with a conglomeration of feelings of fear, dissatisfaction, and powerlessness; and with a criticism of the democratic system itself.