World Elections

Federal Workers Sue Trump Administration Over Schedule F Executive Order Read more here.

NEW: President Trump signed an executive order known as "Schedule F" that strips thousands of federal employees of job protections, making it easier to dismiss them for political disloyalty. Federal workers have sued challenging the order.

Trump Is Already Challenging the Rule of Law Within hours of starting his second term, President Trump issued orders that raise significant concerns about how he may degrade the rule of law.

Within hours of starting his second term, President Trump issued a number of executive orders that raise significant concerns about how he may degrade the rule of law.

Read more in today’s Daily Review:

Consequential State Elections to Watch In 2025 Off-year state races are often a bellwether for the next federal election cycle.

Every year is an election year.

Here’s a look at the state races we’re keeping an eye on in 2025.

In contrast, centre right, centre left and left parties are using online engagement or high visibility more than directly persuading voters. High visibility which did not translate to votes in many cases. Online participation, has not translated to competing with the other parties online. 🔚

These Bürgerdialoges are guide discussions to encourage deep participation through workshops, problem-solving, and answering qualitative questions. This led to an ask to attend a rally. A rally in Magdeburg recently drew over 20,000 participants.

3. They do a series of Bürgerdialoge, or citizen juries. A recent one in Essen had ~200 attendees, allowing for direct interaction between party reps and citizens.🧵#GermanyVotes

2. In Thuringia, the AfD has hosted Bürgerdialoge (citizen dialogues) in small towns like Leinefelde-Worbis. Populist themes of immigration, national identity, critiques of the political establishment used in events to recruit voters and volunteers 🧵#GermanyVotes

Many talking about AfD’s campaign tactics on TikTok as the only driving force are overlooking direct voter contact events they have engaged with, normally a strength of the left, and whose tactics SPD and the left are leaving behind in campaigns in favour of high visibility rallies.🧵#GermanyVotes

How is TikTok shaping the future of German politics? 📊 With the AfD leading young voters and other parties scrambling to catch up, TikTok is the new battleground. See latest TikTok stats for Germany’s parties ahead of #btw25 #GermanyVotes”

Look at the massive jump to AFD.

⚫️ AfD surges in state elections, winning Thuringia gaining ground in Saxony (30.8%).
⚫️Key support: younger voters, disaffected conservatives, and those seeking alternatives to mainstream parties.
⚫️Classified as extremist by intelligence agencies. #GermanyVotes

🥈is SPD 🌹

🌹SPD sees mixed results in state elections.
🌹Retained top spot in Brandenburg (31%) but lost ground in Thuringia and Saxony to AfD.
🌹Key supporters: urban voters, working class, older demographics.
🌹Struggling to hold its base amid rising populism. #GermanyVotes

CSU in 🥉

🧢Appeals to conservatives and centrists.
🧢Popular among older voters and middle-class professionals.
🧢Strong ties to Christian values but more moderate than CSU.
🧢Focuses on economic stability and pro-business policies.
🧢Seen as a broad “catch-all” party for mainstream voters.

Coming 4th is FDP.

🟡FDP struggles in state elections.
🟡Failed to pass the 5% threshold in Thuringia and Saxony (Sept 2024).
🟡Key supporters: business professionals, higher-income voters, urban areas.
🟡Concerns grow over the party’s future influence. #GermanyVotes

More followers but 5th in likes is Die Línke. 🚩

🚩Strongest in Eastern Germany but losing ground (Thuringia: 13.1% in 2024, down from 31% in 2019).
🚩Younger, urban, and working-class voters key supporters.
🚩Losing voters to new parties like Wagenknecht’s BSW. #GermanyVotes

Coming in 6th place in likes and follows is the greens 🌿

🌿The Greens face setbacks in state elections.
🌿Failed to reach 5% in Thuringia and Brandenburg (Sept 24).
🌿Key support: urban, young, eco-conscious, and social liberals.
🌿Party leaders resigned after poor results. #GermanyVotes

CDU with lowest likes and follows.

🗳️Popular among older voters and middle-class professionals.
🗳️Strong ties to Christian values but more moderate than CSU.
🗳️Focuses on economic stability and pro-business policies.
🗳️Seen as a broad “catch-all” party for mainstream voters.

So what followings are we seeing now after the state elections on TikTok?

It’s worthwhile to look at likes rather than just followers. Here are the accounts from lowest likes to most.

TikTok played a major role in making the far-right AfD the most popular party among 18-24-year-olds in Germany. According to pollster @infratestdimap
the AfD is lead this age group by a large margin. Many political analysts pointing to TikTok’s influence as a key factor. #GermanyVotes #btw25

TikTok played a major role in making the far-right AfD the most popular party among 18-24-year-olds in Germany. According to pollster @infratestdimap the AfD is leading this age group by a large margin. Many analysts pointing to TikTok’s influence as a key factor. #GermanyVotes #btw25

Germany, INSA poll:

CDU/CSU-EPP: 31%
AfD-ESN: 20% (+0.5)
SPD-S&D: 17% (+1)
GRÜNE-G/EFA: 12% (-0.5)
BSW-NI: 7% (-1)
FDP-RE: 4% (-1)
LINKE-LEFT: 3%

+/- vs. 20-23 December 2024

Fieldwork: 23-27 December 2024
Sample size: 1,002

➤ europeelects.eu/germany

#btw25 #Bundestag #wahlen

Germany’s campaign style: structured, policy-driven, and coalition-oriented. Could this approach work in your country? 🤔 #GermanyVotes #Elections #btw25

SPD rally. A crowd of people in face masks. SPD flags are raised.

7️⃣ Voluntary voting = campaigns geared towards energizing core supporters. With proportional representation, it’s all about coalitions and broad issue coverag. 🗳️ 🧵 #GermanyVotes #Elections #btw25

SPD election event. 3 people stand in front of large step and repeat backdrop emblazoned with SPD logos. A large group of press are in foreground

6️⃣ Policy is king. Discussions happen in town halls and issue-focused events, not on the streets. 🗣️ 🧵 #GermanyVotes #Elections #btw25

Three people posing for a photo with very large posters, for greens, SDP and CDU

5️⃣ Campaigning via posters, rallies, and forums. Germany has the strictest data privacy laws globally. Political parties cannot access voter contact details without explicit consent. This means no database for field campaigning like the US.🚪❌ 🧵 #GermanyVotes #Elections #btw25

4️⃣ TV debates like the “Triell” are pivotal. Leaders battle it out in front of the nation, shaping opinions in real-time. But only debates in 2021 were poorly engaged by voters;
1st: ~ 6.75%
2nd: ~ 13.25%
3rd: ~ 4.82%
🧵 #GermanyVotes #Elections #btw25

3️⃣ Strict campaign financing laws keep things low-budget and reduce high budget tactics. Posters and outdoor messaging is ubiquitous. Money is used for events and town halls. Limited use of commercials 💶 🧵 #GermanyVotes #Elections #btw25

2️⃣ The mixed-member proportional system means two campaigns targets.
• The voters
• Potential coalition partners.
Future coalition negotiations are front of mind which results in changing or softening policy positions 🧵 #GermanyVotes #Elections #btw25

1️⃣ Campaigns 🇩🇪 are focus more on party than candidates (except for Chancellor hopefuls) and more on manifestos, policies, and ideology. The campaigns feature no personal story on candidates and instead on more subdued policy discussion compared to US and UK. 🧵 #GermanyVotes #Elections #btw25

What do campaigns in Germany look like? How do they compare to the US or UK? Here is a 🧵

Germany’s election is scheduled in February next year. Here’s a thread 🧵 on the parties, political environment and political system.