BERLIN, Sept. 23 -- One day before the German federal election, campaigners from the organization, Smaller Than Five, are still out on the streets, mobilizing people to vote in order to keep the representation of voters of the far-right AfD low.
Smaller Than Five, with the agenda to urge voters not to give the AfD the 5 percent of votes it needs to get into German parliament, is one of several campaigns emerged in the wake of Brexit to motivate young people to vote during this year's federal election.
With Brexit and the U.S. election as wake-up calls, German youngsters came to realize they must fight for their own future, first of all, through electoral participation.
Nils Hirsch, a 29-year-old doctorate student in linguistics in Berlin, told Xinhua that people with university degree generally score a big turnout, but "especially this time, because they want to make sure the right-wing force will not get strong."
"After the election of American president Donald Trump, young people realized they may end up with such people in power," he added.
Jule Koenneke, a program coordinator of the youth-led campaign "Democracy needs you", said in the campaign's publicity video on YouTube: "It's very important that young people engage and go to the polling stations, especially now when you see young people were extremely underrepresented and stayed regrettably at home when the Brexit referendum took place."
Koenneke said, in the case of Brexit, the future of the young was decided by older generations. "I hope the same will not happen here."
The video "Democracy needs you", pointing out in bold letters that 30 percent of the under-30-year-old in Germany do not go to polling stations, called the young people into action at the end as "your vote makes difference".
These youth-led campaigns strived to reach their young audience through off-line activities as well as digitalized means such as YouTube videos and Facebook pages.
On the Facebook page of Smaller Than Five, an entry with a cartoon where a grass-chewing sheep has a reflection of a howling wolf, was subtitled as "what is actually behind the demands of the AfD".
Another post of the Smaller Than Five listed "10 good reasons not to choose AfD", accusing the right-wing Party of various harms, including adopting similar climate politics as Donald Trump, risking to have the EU abolished, ignoring right-wing extremist motivated crimes, advocating an "old-fashioned family picture" , and sowing hatred and mistrust with harsh language against refugees and migrants.
The Facebook page of the "Stop the AfD" campaign features an internet meme with Donald Trump shouting "Stop it". Also appealing to the young is a rap song created by hip-hop artist Claudio Esposito for the election in which he rapped "Go vote, but not the AfD".
This impact of Brexit and U.S. election on German voters has also been observed by Dr. Robert Vehrkamp, co-author of a study on attitudes towards populism among eligible voters in Germany of Bertelsmann Foundation, as he told German media, DW, that the rise of the right-wing populists in 2016 in Germany, together with Brexit and Trump, have energized the political mainstream to defend the system.
中移动将销售诺基亚新款智能手机
我总能选择
Where Are We Heading
Life Together
英文爱情箴言4
Words to Live by 1
A big effort to make it a happy birthday
埃及总统穆尔西将对全国发表讲话
2020年希腊何去何从?
The Gift of Love
东盟秘书长:南海可能成为“巴勒斯坦”
巴勒斯坦获得联合国观察员国地位
《暮光4(下)》再度蝉联北美周末票房榜
About love
张志熔辞任熔盛重工董事会主席
每天都是新起点
分析:中美角力东南亚
I will persist until I succeed 1
Viki:冲破语言藩篱 享受无边视界
风暴之后
I will persist until I succeed 2
快唤醒你的生活
从现在开始,多想想你拥有的
改变未来
比雀斑更美的
克林顿为美国公司争取核电厂扩建合同
世人纪念美国总统肯尼迪遇刺49周年
惠普减记谁之过?
A Letter to my Future Self
The beautiful sound of violin
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |