@article{2017:rtters:parlame,
title = {„Parlamentsfähig“? – Die Abgeordneten der AfD in den Landtagen und Bürgerschaften},
year = {2017},
note = {Since they first entered a regional Parliament on state level
(Bundesländer) in 2014, the far right “Alternative for Germany”
(AfD) went on to being represented in nine further state parliaments.
Given that the AfD was founded only two years before, in 2012, the
question arises whether its parliament members are “ready for
parliament”. Or put differently, are they equipped with sufficient
intellectual capabilities and do they have enough institutional
experiences to be able to meet the requirements necessary to handle
the challenging parliamentary procedures required for constructive
policy making. On the one hand the social profile of the AfD MPs,
especially their school education, postsecondary education and
professional qualifications do not differ much from representatives of
other (established) parties. On the other hand most AfD MPs lack
political experience, which is indispensable for engaging in
constructive parliamentary activities. Only few AfD representatives
have been active in political parties other than the AfD, have been
elected to a municipal council, and have been a member of parliament
or a member of a government on state level. It is disputable whether
these extraordinary lack of political engagement and political experi
ence can be compensated by a kind of training on the job as member of
the state parliament, provided that the AfD parliamentary groups
intend to contribute to constructive policy making in parliament at
all.},
journal = {ZParl Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen},
pages = {3--24},
author = {Rütters, Peter},
volume = {48},
number = {1}
}