Over the past two decades, the rise of the far right has dramatically altered party landscapes across Western Europe. Right-wing populist parties have captured double-digit vote shares in national parliamentary elections in eight different Western European states. In Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, and Sweden, far-right parties have entered national coalition governments. In both Norway and Denmark, the national government currently depends upon the toleration of the right-wing populist parties. On the subnational level, far-right parties have become the largest parties in many regions and cities in Western Europe.

For all the attention lavished upon them, it is often overlooked that the electoral success of right-wing parties in Western Europe has not been uniform. In some states, no right-wing populist party has emerged. In both Sweden and the Netherlands, such parties imploded after brief successes. In Germany, the subject of this chapter, the REP failed to consolidate itself in the party system despite persistently high unemployment, a large foreign-born population, and a host of shocks associated with absorbing a former Communist state. Other right-wing political and intellectual movements in Germany have fared little better.

Why has the far right succeeded in some states and failed in others? Existing explanations focus on immigration, unemployment, electoral institutions, and the political program of right-wing populist parties. Using Germany as a case to evaluate these arguments, this chapter shows that none of them provide a compelling account for the failure of the REPs.