The Left Party: Crisis of Ideas or Inherited Defect?

The purpose of this study is to determine the nature of the crisis which the German Left Party faces today. The article analyses the ideological profile of the party, the depth of tensions between representatives of different wings within the party, and the origins and consequences of fierce competition with the right-populist Alternative for Germany in the new federal states. The party's guidelines set out in the 2011 party program are considered outdated. It is argued that today's Left Party is unable to offer the electorate new attractive ideas. The article analyses the contradictions on the issue of finding a new political image for the party between the right-wing “statesmen” (ideological successors of the PDS and SED) and the left-wing “internationalists”, which led to the Left Party’s split last autumn. The article emphasises that during the years of the eurozone crisis and the unprecedented migrants flow to Germany in 2015-2016, the Left leadership has failed to keep the support of the citizens in the East of Germany, who have shifted mainly to the AfG-voters. Based on the results of the study, the authors recognise that the crisis of the Left Party is systemic. The authors draw attention to the fact that the Left Party’s split would cause its withdrawal from the forefront of the German political life. In return, Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht, the new party launched by Sahra Wagenknecht, will probably gain its momentum. In this case, Left Party's right-wing members, part of the protest electorate of the Alternative for Germany, and supporters of a diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian conflict and relations recovery with the Russian Federation may vote for Wagenknecht's party.