Democracy Study
The desire for a “strong leader” is greatest in these EU countries
Place of federal German parliamentary democracy: The Reichstag in Berlin
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The desire for authoritarian forms of government is increasing across Europe. In this country too, there are increasing calls for a “strong leader” – away from the democratic order.
Dissatisfaction with democracy is increasing across Europe, a new study shows. Accordingly, the desire for authoritarian leadership is increasing, as the study on “authoritarianism, historical images and democratic dispositions” in eight European countries showed.
The question about a strong leader who does not have to worry about election results or parliamentary decisions showed that agreement with this statement was lowest in Germany (17 percent) and Austria (16 percent) compared to other countries surveyed. The sheer level of agreement with the statement still seems remarkably high. Approval for this is highest in Italy at 46 percent and in France at 41 percent.
Stable satisfaction with the functioning of democracy
When it comes to satisfaction with the functioning of democracy in one’s own country, it can be seen that it remained constant in Germany, Hungary and France compared to the previous survey from 2019 and even increased in Italy. It decreased in Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic.
The scientists also noticed a loss of trust in politicians. Only a few people across countries agreed with the statement “Most politicians are trustworthy”. The most approval at 19 percent was in Germany, the least in the Czech Republic and Hungary at 9 percent.
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The survey on which the study is based took place in December 2022. 2,000 people were surveyed in Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain and Poland, as well as 1,000 each in Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The study director is the contemporary historian Oliver Rathkolb from the Vienna Institute for Cultural and Contemporary History. The study was carried out in collaboration with the Alfred Landecker Foundation in Berlin and the Fritz Bauer Institute at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. The results were presented on Sunday in Vienna’s Burgtheater and will be published in book form in autumn 2024.
Sources: Burgtheater Vienna, University of Vienna, “Frankfurter Rundschau”