Nostalgic for a better democracy? How German right-wing social media commentators (mis)remember the past

Abstract This study examines how German social media commentators express their views on democratic values and nostalgically construct the past in public Facebook (FB) comments. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative content analysis with Large Language Model (LLM)-driven data interviews, we analyze a diverse set of comments posted between April 2010 and November 2019 in German-language FB groups. The study aims to provide insights into how right-wing commentators articulate their beliefs about democratic values and history, highlighting their political aspirations. Our analyses highlight the significant role of nostalgia in these discourses, with the past portrayed as a more unified and less complicated time, often linked to nativist ideologies. In these narratives, the past is constructed as morally superior to a corrupt and irresponsible present, with significant historical events such as World War II and the “refugee crisis” serving as markers of Germany’s alleged decline. By drawing on Hannah Arendt’s theories of the public sphere, we explore how these discourses challenge pluralism and democratic principles. Additionally, we introduce an innovative methodological approach by combining LLM with qualitative analysis to better understand political discourse on social media.