Far-right worldview more widespread than it has been in years

Support for democracy is waning in Germany—this is the finding of the latest edition of the Leipzig Authoritarianism Study. For the first time since the representative study began in 2002, nationwide support for democracy as an idea has fallen below the 90 percent mark (89.3 percent).

According to the data, this is attributable to “the drastic decline in eastern Germany,” where support for democracy fell from 94.6 percent in 2024 to 85.7 percent today. In the west, there was a slight increase during the same period. The study is conducted every two years based on a public opinion poll.

Differences Between East, West—and Genders

The proportion of people who hold a consistently far-right worldview has increased. According to the study, it currently stands at 6.9 percent nationwide. Researchers last recorded a higher figure in the 2012 survey, when it was 8.8 percent.

Here, too, there is a significant difference between East and West. While 6.5 percent of West Germans currently hold a far-right worldview, the figure is 8.5 percent in the East. 

The figures also differ by gender: According to the survey, 5.6 percent of men support a right-wing authoritarian dictatorship, compared to just 3 percent of women. The tendency toward chauvinism—the belief that one’s own group is superior to others—is also more pronounced among men (22 percent) than among women (18 percent).

An aggressive form of political nostalgia

A “regressive nostalgia,” in which a political contrast is constructed between an idealized past and a present perceived as corrupt and threatening—was identified by researchers at the University of Leipzig, according to their own findings, in 15 percent of respondents. This “aggressive form of nostalgia” was found to be significantly more common among older people, those in lower income groups, East Germans, and respondents without a high school diploma than among younger people, West Germans, and those with higher education and higher incomes.

To measure these attitudes, respondents were asked to take a stance on statements such as: “It annoys me that people like me no longer receive the same respect in our society as we used to” and “I feel a sense of longing when I think about the economic advantages that people like me used to enjoy.”

The survey took place from March 16 to June 3. The 2,507 participants were individuals aged 16 and older who had to have sufficient German language skills to complete a comprehensive questionnaire. The study was conducted in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which is affiliated with the Green Party, and the Otto Brenner Foundation of IG Metall. This year’s study is titled “The Unstoppable Rise of Authoritarianism.”