This book provides the first systematic and comparative analysis of the German right-wing populist protest movement "PEGIDA". It offers an in-depth reconstruction of the movement's historical development, its organisational structure and its programmatic orientation. It depicts the protestors and their motivations, reactions in politics, media and society, and PEGIDA's European network. The volume presents and compares the results of scientific surveys among PEGIDA-participants and brings them into the context of long-time studies on political culture in Germany, representing a comprehensive study of the emergence of contemporary right-wing populist movements. The book will be of interest to researchers, academics and students focusing on comparative politics, (right-wing) populism, protest movements in western democracies, and political culture in Germany, as well as journalists, political educators and policy makers.

Hans Vorländer holds the Chair of Political Theory and the History of Political Thought at TU Dresden, Germany. He is also Founding Director of the Dresden based Center for the Study of Constitutionalism and Democracy (ZVD). He has published numerous books on democracy, constitutionalism, liberalism and populism. Among his publications are books on democracy (Demokratie, 2009) and on constitutionalism (Die Verfassung, 2012). Maik Herold is Research Associate at the Chair of Political Theory and the History of Political Thought at TU Dresden and at the Center for the Study of Constitutionalism and Democracy (ZVD), Germany. Steven Schäller is Research Associate at the Chair of Political Theory and History of Political Thought at TU Dresden and at the Center for the Study of Constitutionalism and Democracy (ZVD), Germany.