Opinion poll
One in four believes in “secret powers” in politics
People take part in a protest against the Corona measures in Hamburg in December 2021. photo
© Georg Wendt/dpa/Archive
According to a study, a good third of the people in Germany “have an extended right-wing populist world view”. The world view is apparently also related to trust in the government.
According to a Stuttgart study, populism and the belief in conspiracies are in widespread in Germany. One in four is therefore convinced that politics is controlled by “secret powers”. According to the study by the University of Hohenheim, a fifth of Germans believe that the mass media “systematically lies to them”.
“Overall, a good third of Germans have a right-wing populist worldview in a broader sense,” said communication scientist Frank Brettschneider on Tuesday, summarizing the results of the survey. Roughly one in six (16 percent) also agrees that the country now resembles “more of a dictatorship than a democracy.”
In July 2023, the opinion research institute Forsa interviewed a total of 4,024 people with a German passport on behalf of the University of Hohenheim.
Confidence in the federal government has fallen
According to Brettschneider, the world view is not only solidifying among a large group of respondents, it is also becoming more popular: “Between 2022 and 2023, satisfaction with the functioning of democracy fell by ten percentage points,” said the Stuttgarter. Trust in the federal government fell between 2022 and 2023 more than in any other institution. “When this frustration, this dissatisfaction intensifies, then the culprit is sought and one tinkers one’s world and one’s truths together,” said Brettschneider, explaining the trend. “And this handicraft has never been as easy as it is today,” he told the dpa.
His team presented respondents with 22 statements. Some of these contained conspiracy stories. Respondents were asked to indicate how much they agreed or disagreed with these statements.