Abstract
This chapter examines the levels and changes in popular support in the Federal Republic of Germany between 1984 and 2014. The chapter is divided into two principal sections. The first sets out support for four key objects of the political system: (1) the functioning of democracy overall; (2) pride in the Basic Law; (3) trust in democratic institutions; and (4) trust in the European Union. Rather than support having a predictable trajectory, the levels depend upon the object evaluated and the time-frame in which they are reviewed. Further, some of the east-west differences have narrowed, whilst others have remained static. The second section investigates how levels of support have changed in response to key theoretical variables. It demonstrates that value profiles, engagement with civil society, perceptions of political-economy and partisanship have all altered in ways that affected the levels and trajectory of support.
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Notes
- 1.
Politikverdrossenheit translates as ‘disenchantment with politics’. According to the German dictionary, Duden, it was word of the year in 1992. See: Duden.de.
- 2.
The question used is: ‘Let’s turn now to democracy in Germany: Generally speaking how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with democracy as it is practised in the Federal Republic of Germany?’ very satisfied, fairly satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, fairly dissatisfied, very dissatisfied. A 0–5 scale was created with the satisfied options scored to have the highest values.
- 3.
The question used is: ‘On these cards you will find a number of things one can be proud of as a German, Please select the three things you are most proud of.’ The Basic Law, B The German Parliament (‘Bundestag’), The achievements of German athletes, Economic successes, German art and literature, Scientific achievements, Social welfare achievements.
- 4.
This has been obtained from the following question: ‘I am now going to read out a number of public institutions and organisations. Please tell me for each institution or organisation how much trust you place in it. Please use this scale. 1 means you have absolutely no trust at all 7 means you have a great deal of trust You can differentiate your answers using the numbers in between. What about the—Health service, German constitutional court, German Parliament, Municipal administration, Army, Catholic church, Protestant church, Judicial system, Television, Newspapers, Universities and other institutes of higher education [Hochschulen], German government, Trade unions, Police, Job centres, State pension system, Employer associations’. The scale was recoded 0–6 with higher values indicating more trust.
- 5.
The question used is similar to that for domestic institutions: ‘And now I will name a few institutions of the European Union. Once again, please tell me how much trust you have in the individual institutions. 1 means you have absolutely no trust at all 7 means you have a great deal of trust What about—The European Commission, The European Parliament, The European Court of Justice’.
- 6.
The construction of this variable was made from the following question: ‘What vocational or professional training do you have? Which of the categories on the card apply to you?’ One of the responses was ‘University degree’ (‘Hochschulabschluß’). This was recoded into a dichotomous variable.
- 7.
The following statements were used to construct the standard materialist-postmaterialist index: ‘Looking at the list below, please tick a box next to the one thing you think should be Germany’s highest priority, the most important thing it should do.’ Highest priority Germany should … (1) Maintain order in the nation (2) Give people more say in government decisions (3) Fight rising prices (4) Protect freedom of speech. And which one do you think should be Germany’s next highest priority, the second most important thing it should do? Next highest priority should … (1) Maintain order in the nation (2) Give people more say in government decisions (3) Fight rising prices (4) Protect freedom of speech.
- 8.
The following statements are about the situation in the old and new federal states. ‘Please tell me for each statement whether you: completely agree, tend to agree, tend not to agree or do not agree at all: Socialism is basically a good idea, it was just put into practice badly’. The strong agreement was coded to have the higher values.
- 9.
The question used is: ‘Some people think that most people can be trusted. Others think that one can’t be careful enough when dealing with other people. What do you think?’ The variable was recoded: (0) ‘one can’t be careful enough’; (1) ‘it depends’; and (2) ‘most people can be trusted’.
- 10.
The question on political interest used was: ‘How interested in politics are you? (4) Very strongly? (3) Strongly? (2) Middling? (1) Very little? (0) Or not at all?’
- 11.
The question on the national economy is: ‘How would you generally rate the current economic situation in Germany? Very good, Good, Partly good/partly bad, Bad, Very bad’. The question on the future is: ‘What do you think the economic situation in Germany will be like in one year? Considerably better than today, Somewhat better than today, The same, Somewhat worse than today, Considerably worse than today’. Both variables were recoded such that the more optimistic options had the higher values.
- 12.
The questions on the respondent’s financial predicament follow directly from those on the national economy: ‘And your own current financial situation? Very good, Good, Partly good/partly bad, Bad, Very bad’. And the question on the future is: ‘And what will your own financial situation be like in one year? Considerably better than today, Somewhat better than today, The same, Somewhat worse than today, Considerably worse than today’.
- 13.
The literature n winning and losing is unclear on whether intentions or behaviour should be used. Given the infrequency in the behavioural question, this study uses the following question on voting intentions: ‘If there was a general election next Sunday, which party would you vote for with your second vote (‘Zweitstimme’)?’ The Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union; The Social Democratic Party; The Free Democratic Party; The Greens; The Republicans; Party of Democratic Socialism; Other party, please specify. From this question a variable was constructed to capture whether or not respondents intended to vote for the winners or losers.
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Campbell, R. (2019). Mapping Popular Support for Democracy in Germany. In: Popular Support for Democracy in Unified Germany. New Perspectives in German Political Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03792-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03792-5_4
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