Atlas / Comparisons / Alternative for Germany vs Neoliberalism
Alternative for Germany and Neoliberalism
Measured distance across six axes
Different families with real common ground. They agree within three points on SC, CH. They diverge by eight points or more on CU, ID.
Axis by axis
| Axis | AfD | Mont Pèlerin, Chicago | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +04 | +09 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +09 | +01 | 8 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +05 | −02 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +03 | +02 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +08 | −02 | 10 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CH · Method and tempo | 00 | −02 | 2 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
AfD · CU +09
Coded +9: national identity, Leitkultur and opposition to what the party calls gender ideology.
- Programme textProgramme rejects multiculturalism explicitly and opposes recognition of gender beyond the binary.
Mont Pèlerin, Chicago · CU +01
Coded near neutral: the tradition is deliberately agnostic on social questions and its exponents divided sharply.
- ScholarshipHayek and Friedman opposed conscription and drug prohibition; other Mont Pèlerin members were social conservatives.
AfD · ID +08
Coded +8: remigration and descent-based conceptions of belonging.
- Documented act or statuteA 2023 meeting on deportation plans including naturalised citizens triggered mass counter-demonstrations in 2024.
Mont Pèlerin, Chicago · ID −02
Coded mildly universalist: free movement of capital, goods and, for most exponents, labour.
- ScholarshipFriedman and Hayek both defended open immigration in principle, with Friedman qualifying it against a welfare state.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Alternative for Germany
2013– · Germany
Founded against euro bailouts, reoriented around immigration, national identity and rejection of climate policy.
Neoliberalism
1947– · International
Market competition as the organising principle of policy, insulated from democratic interference by rules and independent institutions.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas