Nov 14 2026 - 1:00pm
German democracy “is under great pressure” and “has lost acceptance among the general population”, the authors of a new study warn. Released earlier this week, the findings immediately generated dramatic headlines. The political magazine Der Spiegel asked: “How right-wing is the way Germans think?” Deutsche Welle proclaimed: “One-quarter of Germans want a right-wing authoritarian dictatorship.” But viewed in the cold light of day, the study shows that most Germans aren’t unhappy with democracy itself, but with how it works for them. Recognizing that difference is the key to tackling Germany’s political malaise.
The findings of the 2026 edition of the “Authoritarianism Study” conducted by the University of Leipzig since 2002 certainly look alarming. The newspaper Die Zeit reported “only one third of people are still satisfied with democracy” and “right-wing extremist attitudes have risen sharply”. A Leipzig newspaper spoke of a “growing desire for authoritarian destruction in Germany”. Collectively, the image projected is one of a society tired of democracy.
But the figures themselves paint a more nuanced picture. Asked whether they agree with democracy as an idea, nearly 90% of respondents said yes. While a record low, this is hardly a dramatic departure from previous years: the figure was 91.4% in 2014 and 90.4% in 2024. The number falls sharply, however, when respondents are asked whether they are satisfied with “democracy as it currently works in Germany” — the figure behind the headlines claiming that only a third are satisfied. This is a crucial distinction.
Many Germans are increasingly frustrated with what they see as their inability to change the course of politics by voting. Another recent survey confirmed this, with 87% agreeing that democracy is the best form of government, but only a third saying they were happy with the way it currently works. This is hardly surprising, considering that Friedrich Merz is Germany’s most unpopular chancellor since such polling began.
Just one in 10 Germans are satisfied with his performance. His center-left coalition partners, the SPD, have been in government continuously since 2013, despite winning only one election in that period, and are now polling at around 14%. A survey last year found that two thirds of Germans did not believe he could deliver political change with them. Yet the ability to bring about change through the ballot box is one of democracy’s central promises.
The rise of “Right-wing extremism” should certainly not be disregarded. Authoritarian yearnings certainly exist on a worrying scale. Just under a quarter of respondents in the authoritarianism study, for instance, agreed that a “single strong party that embodies the people’s community as a whole” was needed. But the battery of questions used to measure “Right-wing extremist attitudes” also includes statements such as “Foreigners only come here to use our welfare state”, with only 34% disagreeing. That suggests the figures may capture a broader sense of political and social discontent, rather than straightforward support for authoritarianism.
This week, government data showed that 60% of benefits paid out to families were claimed by people without German citizenship. Criticizing this doesn’t automatically make people extremists. In fact, it’s openly done in countries like Denmark, where Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen argues that limiting the number of foreigners is necessary for maintaining the welfare state.
The study does reveal some alarming tendencies. Nearly 10% of Germans agreed that their people were superior to others “by nature”, while a similar proportion believed Jews were more prone to deceive people. Overall, 7% displayed a “firm right-wing extremist outlook”, the highest figure since 2012. But this remains a small minority.
The broader picture is of a population increasingly frustrated by the apparent inability of elections to change anything. Nearly 60% therefore agreed, at least partially, that “something radical is necessary for the status quo to change”.
The media’s alarmist headlines are likely to backfire. The findings of this survey and others indicate that the majority of Germans are not fed up with democracy but with its dysfunction. Rather than diagnosing what’s wrong with the public, a more constructive response would be to ask what’s wrong with the political offering.
Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian and writer. Her latest book Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe will be released in May 2026.
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