One in twelve people in Germany has a far-right ideology. This is the conclusion reached by a group of scientists from the University of Bielefeld in a recent study on behalf of the political foundation “Friedrich Ebert”, which is close to the Social Democratic Party.

The survey, which has been carried out every two years since 2002, polled around 2,000 people aged between 18 and 90 in January and February 2023. The survey found that 8% have a clear far-right orientation. In previous studies the percentage ranged between 2% and 3%.

More and more people want a dictatorship

Of particular interest is the fact that between 5% and 7% of all age groups support a dictatorship, with only one powerful party and one leader for Germany. Franziska Schroeter, head of the project at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, explains that the growing sympathy for authoritarianism is due to recent major crises such as the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the energy crisis and price increases.

The study is entitled “The distanced middle class” and is led by social psychologist Andreas Tsik. He points out that far-right attitudes are more widespread in the lower economic social strata, since the crises hit them more directly.

This attitude is also accompanied by a decrease in trust in state institutions and the functioning of the Republic, even though a clear majority still supports this form of government. However, 38% have conspiratorial positions, 33% populist and 29% ethno-authoritarian-revolutionary attitudes.

This is an increase of about a third compared to the period before the pandemic. Skepticism towards traditional media has also increased.

Is Democracy in danger?

There are many who are concerned about the course of the Republic, among them the head of the research, Andreas Tsik, who points out that “if the people of the middle ground who do not consider themselves to be far-right, adopt positions of the far-right, then democracy is in in danger”.

In this context, explicit reference is also made to the past and the dictatorship of National Socialism: “National Socialism arose from the center of society and was supported by it, even if the ideology and creation of a fascist society, including propaganda and state terrorism, developed and implemented by a Nazi organization’.

Finally, the research raises the question of how society should deal with multiple crises. 53% are in favor of a return to the “national” and call for isolation from the rest of the world, believing that German values ​​and virtues are essential elements in dealing with the crises.