Most Germans Dissatisfied with Their Democracy, Survey Shows

NEW GERMAN SURVEY
Most Germans Dissatisfied with Their Democracy, Survey Shows

Spiegel Online
November 3, 2006
Source

Despite an economy which is finally coming out of the doldrums, over half of all Germans are dissatisfied with the country's democracy, a new survey shows.

The news on the economic front in Germany could hardly be better: unemployment below 10 percent for the first time in four years, unexpected tax revenue surpluses to be spent, and an economy growing faster than expected. You might expect the Germans to be content with their lot.

But, while Germans might be looking forward to the prospect of a bit more money in their pocket, they are less than thrilled about how the country is being run. According to a new survey, a majority of Germans say they are dissatisfied with the way democracy functions in Germany -- a surprising result for a country which is one of the pillars of the European Union and is widely regarded as a model of democracy and civil society.

In a survey released on Thursday evening by the German public television station ARD, 51 percent of the 1,500 people surveyed answered negatively to the question, "Are you satisfied with how democracy functions in Germany?" It's the lowest result since the station began asking the question in 1997.

As recently as September 2005, 60 percent said they were satisfied with democracy in Germany. Now, it's only 49 percent -- a drop of 11 percentage points.

Similarly, the number of Germans who say that the situation in the country is "unjust" continues to rise. Only 27 percent regard the current situation in Germany as "just", with 66 percent disagreeing. It is a significant change since May, when only 57 percent felt the situation was "unjust".

The results confirm findings released by the University of Leipzig this summer. A study there found that only 27 percent of eastern Germans were satisfied with how democracy functions in Germany. In western Germany, every second person surveyed answered in the affirmative. Trust in political parties in the country is at a new low, the Leipzig psychologist Elmar Brähler commented at the time.

ARD's new survey also puts Germany well below the European average when it comes to satisfaction with democracy. An EU poll this spring found that, on average, 56 percent of Europeans were happy with their system of governance. Denmark led the pack with 93 percent while Croatia and Bulgaria tied for last place with a mere 22 percent each. Most countries with above average levels of satisfaction were in Western Europe, while the populations of formerly communist Eastern European countries tended to have below average levels of satisfaction -- suggesting that they are not as grateful for having traded totalitarianism for democracy as might have been expected.

The erosion of faith in democracy is nothing new, however. Oscar Gabriel, a professor at the University of Stuttgart, has observed the process for the last decade and a half. He has found that there has been a tendency for residents of the former East Germany to lose faith in democracy since the fall of the Wall. In the West, faith in democracy has climbed slightly during the same period, however.

The high levels of German dissatisfaction with the functioning of the country's democracy could well be due to the current political atmosphere in Germany. One year after welcoming Angela Merkel and her grand coalition -- the pairing of the Social Democrats with the conservatives -- to power, Germans are increasingly dissatisfied with the government's work. Only 27 percent think the current government is doing better than ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröder's government. And with the grand coalition looking increasingly unwieldy, it may be some time before Germans cheer up again.

cgh/ap/reuters