As of: February 7, 2024, 6:23 p.m
Comments
Press
Split
The Mainz state parliament.
© Andreas Arnold/dpa/Symbolic image
What makes the people of Rhineland-Palatinate tick politically?
Initial results are now available regarding this research gap.
Medium-sized cities provide a surprise.
Mainz - According to a representative survey, three quarters of Rhineland-Palatinate residents expect the social situation to worsen.
However, satisfaction levels with their own situation are just as high.
“Everything will go down the drain, but I will still manage,” said project manager Uwe Jun, summarizing the results of the first Rhineland-Palatinate Monitor on Wednesday in Mainz.
Jun sees one reason for “pessimism about the future” in the lack of clarity.
“People feel that they can no longer really grasp the complexity of the world.” An overview of the results of the first scientific measurement of the political attitudes of the people of Rhineland-Palatinate:
The most important political problems at the moment
Most (15 percent) consider refugees, immigration, asylum policy and integration to be the most pressing problem.
Followed by education and school (14 percent) and mobility and infrastructure (12 percent).
Climate protection only ranks eighth.
And although multiple answers were possible, none of the respondents mentioned xenophobia/racism or minimum wage/wages or the war in Ukraine.
Attitude towards democracy
Almost 90 percent of those surveyed say democracy is the best form of government.
Freedom of expression (29 percent) and participation/right to vote (28 percent) are cited as the greatest advantages of democracy.
Support for democracy is stronger with higher levels of education and higher income.
The younger you are, the more often democracy is not seen as the best form of government.
Jun cites the time distance from the dictatorships in Germany and the high presence of parties in social networks that express distance from democracy as possible reasons.
Too long decision-making processes are cited as the biggest disadvantage (13 percent) of democracy, but also compromises and coalitions in fourth place (9 percent).
According to Jun, this is “somewhat worrying” because these are a central feature of democracy.
This also applies to attitudes towards freedom of expression: more than a third of those surveyed (35 percent) expressed doubts about it.
People also wanted more direct democracy and participation.
“A discussion that should be had even more,” said Jun. State Parliament President Hendrik Hering spoke of “a frightening finding.”
Political self-location
“People place themselves in the political center,” said Jun. The average on a scale from left (0) to right (10) is 4.8 in Rhineland-Palatinate, which is exactly in line with the national average.
My news
Knife attack in Ludwigshafen: Police confirm two dead – “Of course we are investigating in all directions” read
Rose Monday 2024 in Mainz – train, parties and reading information
Comprehensive network failure at Mainz University Medical Center
Police are looking for stone throwers from a motorway bridge
1 hour ago
Proceedings against bus driver discontinued after accident read
After a fatal accident in an amusement park: an eyewitness makes serious allegations against the operator
Satisfaction with the state government and the state parliament
“People don’t make a big distinction between the state government and the state parliament,” Jun noted.
45 percent are very satisfied or satisfied with the work of the state government and 43 percent with that of the state parliament.
However, there are more undecided people in the state parliament, ten percent had no opinion or did not provide any information, and only three percent in the state government's assessment.
Of the three main goals of the traffic light coalition, the least controversial one - designing inner cities of the future - comes off best.
91 percent think this is important.
Two thirds consider it important that Rhineland-Palatinate should become climate neutral by 2040.
The expansion into a leading biotechnology location 59 percent.
attitude towards justice
“The majority of Rhineland-Palatinate residents are of the opinion that things are not fair,” reported Jun. 54 agreed with this statement.
The lower the level of formal education and the lower the income of the respondents, the stronger this impression was;
Women had it more often than men.
People with a migration background are less common.
However, there were no differences between the age groups.
Differences in attitudes between urban and rural areas
“The most satisfied people live in the big cities,” said Jun. “Trier, Koblenz, Mainz and Ludwigshafen are the beacons of satisfaction.” Political dissatisfaction and fears for the future are highest in medium-sized cities with 20,000 to 100,000 inhabitants, such as Pirmasens and Worms , Speyer, Kaiserslautern, Landau or Bingen.
The surprisingly critical attitude of people in medium-sized cities is reflected, for example, in greater dissatisfaction with all political institutions - from the state government to the state parliament to public administration, explained the political scientist.
They are also more concerned about crime in everyday life (56 percent compared to 42 percent for the other respondents).
People in medium-sized cities are also less satisfied with their social security than the rest of the population (around two thirds compared to 75 percent).
Migration and refugees - the most important political problem for all Rhineland-Palatinate residents - are also noticed even more strongly in the medium-sized cities (21 percent compared to 13 percent).
Traffic, on the other hand, is perceived as a problem significantly less (7 percent to 13)
Populism and conspiracy thinking
Quite a lot of people are inclined to conspiracy thinking in the sense of a classic “anti-establishment narrative,” said Jun. 59 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement that “powerful people in society act against the interests of the ordinary population.”
More than a third also agreed that secret organizations controlled or strongly influenced events and political developments.
This “conspiracy belief” is fed by uncertainty, fear of the future and disorientation, said Jun. “Politics must offer more orientation, take away fears of the future and break down the complexity.
The so-called heating law was a tipping point that supported exactly these three concerns.
Attitudes towards nationalism and xenophobia
There was also a question about “nationalist ideas”.
About a third agreed “completely” or “somewhat” with the following statement: “The achievements of other nations do not come close to German achievements,” as Jun reported.
“A third have a strong national ideology,” he concluded.
The survey also revealed anti-Islamism: a good 30 percent completely or somewhat agreed with the sentence “Muslims are a threat to stability and security in Germany.”
Almost half (48 percent) also completely or somewhat agreed with the sentence “Foreigners want to exploit the welfare state.”
And 23 percent fully agreed with the claim “There is foreign infiltration by foreign cultures” and 28 percent somewhat agreed.
identity in the region
The people of Rhineland-Palatinate do not see themselves as Rhineland-Palatinate, but rather identify very strongly with their region, said Jun. “The regional identity also surpasses the national identity.”
Great interest in politics
Interest in politics and political education is surprisingly high.
Almost two thirds wanted to know more about democracy in Rhineland-Palatinate.
60 percent also expressed a strong or very strong interest in politics.
Television, radio, newspapers and magazines are still central when people seek political information.
Crop of the Rhineland-Palatinate Monitor
The client of the first Rhineland-Palatinate Monitor is the state parliament.
According to Jun, 1,216 people took part in the representative survey conducted by Infratest-Dimap last summer (June and July).
He is a political scientist at the University of Trier and is managing director of the Institute for Democracy and Party Research.
The final results will be presented in the fall and the next monitor will come in two years.
The costs for the first study amount to around 180,000 euros.
Conclusion of the client
Funding for political education needs to be increased, said State Parliament President Hendrik Hering.
An educational program could help against the spread of populism and racism.
Parliamentary democracy was not understood by many and this was a major task of communication, he continued.
Much more needs to be done for media literacy.
This applies to young and older people.
dpa