ABSTRACT

Discussions in extreme right-wing circles today are strongly shaped by current migration. One way to understand this dynamic could be to explore how public debates refer to the religious affiliation of refugees, and in particular to religious fanaticism and the lack of cultural fit between immigrants and Christian and secular Europe. This chapter examines whether religious affiliation is correlated with authoritarian attitudes. The willingness to follow and the desire for security that are contained in the items for authoritarianism seem to appeal to some church members, and it is quite possible that there are overlaps between dogmatic religious groups and extreme right-wing groups in terms of voting. The results of the Leipzig Authoritarianism Study of 2018 confirm current explanatory models for why people vote for the AfD.