In Germany the number of those who support right-wing extremist attitudes is increasing. This is the result of the so-called published on Thursday Middle study, which surveys the attitudes of middle society every two years on behalf of the SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Eight percent of people in Germany share a right-wing extremist worldview. In previous years this was two to three percent. Six percent of those surveyed supported a dictatorship with a strong party and a leader. Here too, the value rose: in previous years, two to four percent of those surveyed were in favor of a dictatorship.
Given last week’s voter polls, the study results are not surprising. There, the right-wing populist AfD was around 22 percent nationwide. In principle, election surveys only reflect opinions at the time of the survey and are not predictions of the election outcome. They are also always subject to uncertainty.
For the Mitte study by the SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation, right-wing extremist attitudes are examined every two years with a representative survey. The authors define the central feature of right-wing extremism as “an ideology of inequality and violence or the approval of violence to enforce the ideology.” Compared to previous years, the accusation of curtailed freedom of expression is shared by significantly more respondents, according to the study. “The same applies to the ethnic demand that different peoples should not mix with each other.”
The UADS Institute in Duisburg surveyed 2,027 participants between January 2nd and February 28th of this year. They were asked to take a position on certain statements, such as whether they would support a dictatorship. According to the information, 30 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement “The ruling parties are deceiving the people” – almost twice as many as two years earlier. The proportion of those who approve of political violence has more than doubled. According to the study, it is currently 13.2 percent. Two years ago, 5.3 percent of respondents held this view.
Right-wing extremist attitudes do not necessarily indicate a political position
The study also came to the conclusion that a right-wing extremist attitude cannot automatically determine where someone sees themselves politically. “Among those who clearly position themselves as left-wing, there are more people who share a solid right-wing extremist worldview (12 percent) than is the case in the political center (7 percent),” the researchers led by Andreas Zick note.
The proportion of respondents who see themselves as right-of-center has also increased, according to the study entitled “The Distant Center.” While 15.5 percent of the population currently see themselves as right-of-center, in the previous survey it was just under ten percent.
War in Ukraine and loneliness
This time, the authors of the study also wanted to know what concerns people in Germany are most concerned about in connection with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. They found that while concerns about an expansion of the war are relatively dominant at 62 percent, concerns about rising energy prices come first at 66 percent.
Basically, women are more concerned about the effects of war than men. There are also significant differences between people who live in western and eastern Germany. According to the information, around 45 percent of people in the West fear that they will not be able to maintain their own standard of living in the long term as a consequence of this war. In the East, this concern concerns around 61 percent of people. According to the study, around 70 percent of people in the East and around 60 percent of the population in the West fear an expansion of the war.
The survey also asked whether people feel lonely. The researchers found that feelings of loneliness are similarly widespread in cities and rural areas. “For a long time, people in East Germany felt lonelier than in the West, but that has now almost leveled out,” the study says. Overall, 28 percent of those surveyed said that they often or often lack company. According to the study results, 15 percent of the population feel isolated from others. This means that loneliness is now back to a similar level as before the corona pandemic with its contact restrictions.