Over 20% of Germans open to authoritarian ideas

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - More than one in five Germans are open to authoritarian ideas, with support for concepts like single-party rule and strong leadership rising compared to last year, according to a new study released Thursday.

The Deutschland-Monitor 2025, presented by the federal government, found that 21% of Germans nationwide are open to such concepts to some degree. That figure rises to 26% in eastern Germany, highlighting a regional divide.

Experts have attributed the trend to rapid societal shifts, economic challenges, and international conflicts and crises, which they said are fueling uncertainty and skepticism. Overall, 40% of Germans expressed dissatisfaction with democracy's performance—49% in the east compared to 38% in the west.

Nationwide, 31% of respondents supported the idea of "a single strong party that embodies the will of the people as a whole." Another 11% favored having "political decisions made by a strong leader" without input from an elected parliament.

Notably, 4% fully agreed that "a dictatorship is the better form of government" under certain circumstances, with an additional 7% partially agreeing. In eastern Germany, those numbers climbed to 6% fully agreeing and 12% partially agreeing, according to the representative survey.