“It appears that in Germany, as almost everywhere else in Europe at the moment, the way to build your party and gain voters is not to hold power or to make decisions, but to attack those who do. Compromise and coalition, once the heart and soul of Continental politics, are losing their attraction.
…
This strange truth has already given birth to strange politics in other countries. In the last British general election, all major political parties ran populist, “anti-elitist” campaigns. The Labour Party ran against the Tory “establishment”; the Tories ran against the pro-European “establishment”; the Scottish National Party ran against the English “establishment.” It was as if nobody wanted to admit that their party actually sought to wield power and become the establishment itself — which is, presumably, the only real reason to enter politics at all."
“It appears that in Germany, as almost everywhere else in Europe at the moment, the way to build your party and gain voters is not to hold power or to make decisions, but to attack those who do. Compromise and coalition, once the heart and soul of Continental politics, are losing their attraction.
…
This strange truth has already given birth to strange politics in other countries. In the last British general election, all major political parties ran populist, “anti-elitist” campaigns. The Labour Party ran against the Tory “establishment”; the Tories ran against the pro-European “establishment”; the Scottish National Party ran against the English “establishment.” It was as if nobody wanted to admit that their party actually sought to wield power and become the establishment itself — which is, presumably, the only real reason to enter politics at all."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/in-europe-political-parties-would-rather-stay-out-of-power/2018/03/02/74d9fd9c-1e41-11e8-9de1-147dd2df3829_story.html