Is populism a threat to representative democracy? Is populism a reason for anxieties about democratic political systems? Or is the rise of populism a source of democratization, since it gives anxieties about the future a voice? In the self-description of leaders of contemporary populist parties, the response to the last question is positive. For instance, Alexander Gauland, co-chair of the Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) at that time, argued 2018 against the dominance of a globalized elite and portrayed the AfD as the real representative of the German people competing democratically in elections (Gauland 2018). In his view, AfD supporters are democrats fighting against the impositions on national sovereignty by cosmopolitan elites.