Satisfaction with democracy in Germany has fallen to a new low, according to an authoritarianism study presented Wednesday in Berlin, with researchers warning that rising far-right attitudes, antisemitic sentiment, and longing for an authoritarian leader are placing the country’s democratic order under severe strain. The study, conducted every two years since 2002 by the Else Frenkel-Brunswik Institute for Democracy Research at the University of Leipzig, is based on a representative questionnaire of more than 900 respondents and arrives amid the far-right AfD’s electoral successes.
Key Takeaways: Approval of democracy as an idea fell below 90% for the first time in the study series, including 85.7% in the former East Germany. Only about one-third nationwide said they are satisfied with democracy as practiced, with 22.8% in the East and 36% in the West. Just under a quarter backed a ‘single strong party’ embodying the national community, rising to 30.9% in the East.
The findings offer a bleak snapshot of a European Union member state whose post-war democratic model is increasingly contested at home. The report links eroding trust to idealization of the past, a desire for a radical break, and an east-west gap that remains politically potent more than three decades after reunification. Researchers said the share of people with a consistently far-right worldview reached 6.9%, the highest since 2014, while chauvinistic national pride rose to 19.9%, the highest level since the series began. Such trends, the authors argue, do not merely reflect protest voting but a deeper alienation from democratic institutions and mainstream political representation.
Social psychologist and study author Oliver Decker said: «Our democracy is under great pressure. It has lost acceptance among the general population. It is alarming how much an authoritarian yearning is taking its place.» The study also found that just under 15% of respondents believe «everything has to fall apart so that something new can emerge,» while nearly one in three says «something radical is needed» for the current state of affairs to change, and another 29.1% agrees to some extent.
The authors directly connect these attitudes to party preference, noting that a large proportion of voters with this orientation favor the far-right Alternative for Germany. «Through its violent rhetoric, the AfD promises to realize the political goals of far-right ideology,» the study says. It argues that the party’s form and content correspond to what a significant portion of the population wants to hear, offering a political home to far-right thinking while presenting itself as capable of reaching a broad segment of society. The report also links the longing for catastrophe with significantly higher antisemitic sentiments.
Study co-author Johannes Kiess called on political leaders at all levels to find countermeasures, saying that rejection of the present state of the world must be met with compelling democratic alternatives and the ability to take political action today. The same warning applies to the significant rise in antisemitism, which the study identifies as part of the broader authoritarian and far-right drift. With the AfD’s electoral successes already reshaping German politics, the report’s release is likely to intensify debate over how the Berlin regime and mainstream parties respond to public discontent without further legitimizing extremist narratives.
Source: www.dw.com