Wurthmann, L. Constantin. 2023. "Kooperation oder Abgrenzung? : Einstellungen zum oppositionellen Umgang der CDU/CSU mit der Linken und der AfD." Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen (ZParl) 54 (1): 69-87. doi: https://doi.org/10.5771/0340-1758-2023-1-69.
Should the CDU/CSU open up itself politically to the Left and the AfD? This question has recently been asked more frequently, especially in the east of the Federal Republic of Germany, although the CDU/CSU, as well as the common Bundestag parliamentary group, have unequivocal positions on this. This article examines for the first time, on the basis of data collected after the 2021 federal election, how different forms of oppositional cooperation between the Christian Democrats and the Left or the AfD are perceived by the population and among those who consider voting for the CDU/CSU as a viable option. The analysis shows a very strong rejection by the population and also by potential CDU/CSU voters of any form of cooperation with the AfD – from approval of AfD motions to opening up for coalitions. Less clear in their rejection are the attitudes towards forms of cooperation with the Left, although here, too, a tendency towards rejection can be observed. For an opening towards the AfD and a rejection of the same towards the Left, it is above all the individual self-positioning as very conservative that shows a very strong effect on such an attitude. In the former case in particular, however, these conservatives are a marginalised minority - even in the potential electorate of CDU and CSU.