That's why so many people voted!

Prof. Dr. Raj Kollmorgen, a sociologist and professor of the management of social change at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, has spoken as an expert in various media outlets in the context of the 2025 federal election. In interviews with MDR and SPIEGEL, he analyzed the reasons for the historically high voter turnout as well as the AfD’s success in eastern Germany.

In an MDR report, Prof. Kollmorgen explained that the increased voter turnout was due to current societal challenges that are making people more politically engaged. These include, among other things, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, migration issues, and economic uncertainties. These crises are motivating citizens to cast their votes in order to influence policy-making.

In an interview with SPIEGEL, Prof. Kollmorgen emphasized that new parties with alternative platforms and fresh faces have helped mobilize voters. This broadening of the political spectrum has led to greater polarization, which in turn brought more people to the polls.

Regarding the AfD’s electoral success in eastern Germany, Prof. Kollmorgen cited several reasons. He pointed to a different political culture and specific patterns of discourse in eastern Germany that favor the party’s success. These factors are not fundamentally surprising, he noted, but had already become apparent in past state elections.