The citizens are apparently losing their trust in the ability of the German state to act. This emerges from the citizens’ survey of the German Association of Civil Servants, which was published on Tuesday. Accordingly, only 27 percent think the state is able to fulfill its tasks. 69 percent, on the other hand, think they are overwhelmed. Measured against previous years, public confidence has thus reached a new low.
In 2019, a good third of those surveyed still thought the state was capable of acting, followed by a corona high of 56 percent in 2020 and 45 percent a year later. But last year, the value collapsed to 29 percent. The federal chairman of the civil servants’ association, Ulrich Silberbach, called the new figures “alarming” on Tuesday.
There are definitely differences. In the east, where elections will be held in three federal states next year and the AfD is currently the strongest force in the polls, 77 percent believe the state is overwhelmed, according to the survey. Only one in five believes that the state can fulfill its tasks.
Trust in the state is higher with age
In general, trust in the state increases with age; it is also strongest among supporters of the Greens (52 percent) and lowest among those of the AfD (six percent). Those citizens who attest that the state is overwhelmed see this as particularly pronounced in asylum and refugee policy, in education and in climate and environmental protection. Citizens name social justice, better infrastructure and investments in climate protection and the expansion of renewable energies as the most important tasks for the state. However, the latter is considered more important in the west than in the east, where in turn relieving citizens of inflation is a higher priority than in the west.
“The rifts between East and West, poor and rich, depending on the level of education, are getting deeper and the social stress level is increasing,” said Silberbach. The head of the civil service association also states that the latter is based on the fact that 80 percent of those surveyed feel that society is being brutalized. A good one in four has already observed attacks on public service employees, particularly often on police officers and rescue workers. “Public service workers are footing the bill for the state’s general loss of reputation,” said Silberbach.
As for the civil service itself, 45 percent of the citizens surveyed find that it has become less efficient compared to last year; back then, a similarly large proportion saw it that way. Among the various branches of public service, street cleaning and refuse collection get the best marks, followed by libraries, museums and kindergartens. The employment offices, state and federal ministries are at the bottom of the list. For the representative survey, the opinion research institute Forsa surveyed a good 2,000 citizens online in June.