On 6 September 2026, 1,706,8511 people were obliged to vote the new state parliament within the state elections from Saxony-Anhalt – which is part of the Federal Republic of Germany since 1990.
The election shows two main insights for politics in my view and both are based on a global political perspective not surprising:
- High voter turnout: There was a significant increase in voter turnout, reflecting a very strong interest and demand for democratic participation – the stress from global competition arrived in Saxony-Anhalt.
- Strong vote for AfD: Long established political parties are not able to convince a large majority of people for their political actions, while nationalism seems to be attractive and gains appeal.
The high voter turnout
(Source: https://wahlergebnisse.sachsen-anhalt.de/wahlen/lt26/erg_land.html)
1,328,211 people voted in the state election, meaning 77.8% of potential voters participated in the democratic process. Compared to 60.3% in the 2021 state elections, this represents an increase of 17.5%. This is a remarkable rise in voter engagement and interest in the electoral process.
The findings suggest that the increased global competition and the mostly negative impacts of heightened societal stress have reached Saxony-Anhalt. This stress – and, undoubtedly, the frustration it fuels – can be channelled through elections and the democratic process. Fundamentally, this is positive from a democratic perspective, aiming for a vibrant and vivid democratic “battle” for better arguments with strong involvement of the people.
Healthy democracy thrives on this lively yet cultivated “battle” for the best arguments. The democratic system proves its capacity to enable public participation in decision-making, even within a society with relatively little experience and a short history of open democracy. This shows me that the opportunity for participation through democratic decision-making processes becomes particularly compelling during stressful and dynamic times.
The strong vote for AfD
(Source: https://wahlergebnisse.sachsen-anhalt.de/wahlen/lt26/erg_land.html)
576,037 people in Saxony-Anhalt – which is 43.8% of all votes – voted for the AfD Saxony-Anhalt, the state branch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party. The AfD is a relatively young party. They first ran for political leadership and offices only 10 years ago – in 2016 – in Saxony-Anhalt, where 24.3% of voters supported them. In the state elections 2021, they received 20.8% of the vote, and now, in 2026, 43.8% of voters chose AfD Saxony-Anhalt – a surge of 23% compared to 2021 or a doubling of their voter base.
Such a democratic voting result certainly has several micro-political reasons. However, the overall long-term political trend is very stable and follows a clear pattern – similar to the relationship between weather and climate. While weather is short-term and difficult to predict with high certainty on a daily basis, the long-term trend – climate – shows a very clear pattern, and the root-causes are obvious.
With the significantly increased global economic competition caused by globalised markets, globalised trade, and globalised societies and the expanding economic activities of countries with large populations – most notably the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of India, which aim to maximise their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – countries like Saxony-Anhalt are facing significant stress from this increased global competition.
The response of AfD Saxony-Anhalt to this increased global economic stress is a return to “national solutions”: decoupling from global businesses and fostering strong national leadership to safeguard the prosperity of the people. It is no surprise that, in the context of harsh global competition, this is a very promising pledge for 576,037 people (43.8% of voters) in Saxony-Anhalt.
This same “promise” has resonated in other regions and countries, including the United States of America (USA) under the “Trump administration”, the Russian Federation under the “Putin administration”, Rassemblement National in the French Republic, Reform UK in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Freedom Party (FPÖ) in the Republic of Austria, etc.
The promise of a “holy island” is as simple and as convincing – as it is paradoxical – at the same time. Nevertheless, if the “enemy” is coming from outside, we had better concentrate on ourselves and shield ourselves from the “enemy” – the international competition. This may work for the USA for a certain period of time, because the USA is one of the strongest economies and other economies highly depend on trade with the USA. But only as long as they do not find other and better partners for trade (e.g., China, India, Brasil, Canada, Australia, Africa).
Global trade and global supply chains – the so called “economic globalisation” – is one of humanities best success stories and developed wealth and prosperity to billions of people on planet Earth – also to the people in Saxony-Anhalt. Global supply chains due to the “economic globalisation” remained e.g., even during the COVID-19 pandemics and despite sever political interventions in society and economy, stable and proved to be highly resilient. The same applies for the war between the USA “Trump administration” and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and its correlating impact on global supply chains.
A globalised economy means resilient supply chains, diverse products and services, access to the latest and cutting-edge technology everywhere, the possibility for global travel, and the chance to explore the incredibly rich cultural plurality of our regional societies – such as the one in Saxony-Anhalt. It also means global trade, and global trade, in turn, means global collaboration, since every trade is a social interaction between corporations and/or people around the globe.
The AfD works clearly against this success of “economic globalisation” and its most important development for wealth and prosperity. The concept of a “holy island”, based on a strong national economy, strong national borders, and a strong national identity within the context of a highly interconnected and globalised economy, may sound absurd. Still, they can convince a huge majority – in Saxony-Anhalt, almost an absolute majority of people – to vote for them. This trend is expected to continue, also in other European nation-states and around the globe.
This trend toward clear nationalism and thus opportunistic actions – based on “make XYZ great (again)”, as we experience it from the USA “Trump administration” – mostly leads to conflicts (e.g., even with long-term and intensive collaboration partners like Canada) that spread around the globe.
Nationalism is fundamentally opposed to or even hostile toward others, except for those who align, obey, and agree with the “club of nationalism”. This is neither a peaceful nor a democratic attitude, and it is closely related to the concepts of “liberalism” or “freedom”. Both demand hostility and work toward anarchy, governed by a “strong leader” who acts according to her/his own taste and favor, and whom pleases them.2
The healthy response
A globalised economy simply demands an equally strong globalised political governance. The healthy response to the nationalising developments – such as the one in Saxony-Anhalt – is the creation and development of convincing global political offers. These global political offers are best based on (direct) democratic decision-making processes.
The state elections in Saxony-Anhalt simply reveal the democratic vacuum on supranational political level – the root cause for the trend towards nationalism – and a significant demand for a strong and democratically legitimised global governance. There is a significant demand for a “political globalisation” in response to the highly successful and dynamic “economic globalisation”.
The attempt by the AfD, the USA “Trump administration”, et al. to reverse the highly successful “economic globalisation” will most likely result in turmoil and a significant decrease in wealth and prosperity – about 100-years ago the exact same long-term political pattern resulted in World War II.
I am fully convinced that the political party that is able to provide a feasible way forward for a form of “political globalisation” will be able to win at the polls, attract voters, and succeed in elections. It will foster the perspective of a healthy and thus sustainable society, including in Saxony-Anhalt, which is most dependent on the globalised economy (e.g., through international tourism).
My clear claim: People are voting for nationalism even though they fully understand it will deliver no real long-term improvement to their lives, livelihoods, wealth, and prosperity. They also fully understand that the stress they experience is caused and rooted within global competition – which is a global issue and can best be mitigated at a global level.
I am fully convinced that most of the 576,037 AfD voters in Saxony-Anhalt understand and agree on this correlation. However, they do not believe such global political and democratic developments are possible. So, they opt against traditionally failing parties. These parties also still think and act mostly within their national borders, without any real global perspective. Instead of giving them their vote, they turn directly to the political party that at least offers a clear-cut promise.
This most fatal trend will stop the moment a global perspective – with strong global political governance based on global (direct) democracy – becomes concretely imaginable, specifically possible, and thus realistic and feasible.
Sources
- “Die Landeswahlleiterin” Saxony-Anhalt: Election results at the state level of Saxony-Anhalt, September 8, 2026, 3:06 PM, https://wahlergebnisse.sachsen-anhalt.de/wahlen/lt26/erg_land.html ↩︎
- cf. e.g., Baumann, K. (2026): “The philosophy of a healthy and thus sustainable (global) society“, IDGR.org: April 20, 2025 ↩︎
picture shows screenshot from “Die Landeswahlleiterin” Saxony-Anhalt: Election results at the state level of Saxony-Anhalt, September 8, 2026, 3:06 PM;
(c) 2026 Landesportal Sachsen-Anhalt.
