2024-03-21 22:43:12
“The AfD, like the other popular parties, is a multi-environment party,” says a sociologist from Bremen. A study evaluation by “Zeit” now shows who sympathizes with the party.
Male, older than 50, with little education and probably even from East Germany – this is how many people imagine a typical AfD voter. A recent data analysis by “Zeit” actually agrees with many of these ideas. However, it also shows that there are only a few social groups in which the AfD does not have double-digit approval ratings.
56 percent of potential AfD voters are men, and a total of 65 percent are over 50 years old. Around a third of the AfD sympathizers have a secondary or secondary school diploma, and 18 percent have a high school diploma, according to data evaluated by “Zeit”. For comparison: among the sympathizers of the other parties, an average of 30 percent have a high school diploma. In East Germany, the AfD is significantly more represented than other parties, but most potential voters, at 76 percent, live in the West.
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Many AfD voters are dissatisfied with democracy
The sociologist Nils Kumkar, who researches right-wing populist attitudes at the University of Bremen, explains to “Zeit”: “Like the other popular parties, the AfD is a multi-milieu party.” It no longer just appeals to a niche, but to broad sections of society. Kumkar therefore distinguishes between three groups of AfD voters, some of which overlap: those who are dissatisfied with politics and democracy, those who see themselves economically threatened and those who think authoritarian to the right.
According to the data, a disproportionately large number of potential AfD voters, 75 percent, are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with democracy as it exists in Germany. For other parties this figure is a total of 27 percent. And many potential AfD voters also see their freedom of expression restricted. A total of 59 percent of them completely or somewhat agreed with the statement “People like me are no longer allowed to freely express their opinions in public.” Other parties come to a total of 18 percent who “somewhat” or “completely” agree with this statement.
“Some wish they could go back to a time similar to the Empire”
It is also striking that 16 percent of AfD sympathizers believe that their own economic situation will be significantly worse in a year. For other parties this value is only 5 percent. 30 percent of AfD sympathizers estimate their economic situation to be “slightly worse” in a year, compared to 20 percent for the other parties.
Politically, half of the AfD sympathizers see themselves in the center, 32 percent place themselves in the center-right, 12 percent on the right and a small proportion of four percent on the left or center-left. The current sympathizers consider themselves to be more centrist than the previous sympathizers, writes the “Zeit”.
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Political scientist Aiko Wagner, who researches party systems and political attitudes at the Free University of Berlin, explains: “Parts of the AfD electorate want to go back to a time similar to the Empire, where discipline and order play a more central role.” Although these parts of the AfD sympathizers are not anti-democratic per se, Wagner told “Zeit”, they rejected liberal democracy with the current leaders and favored strong leaders and direct democracy.
Sociologist believes in a maximum of 25 percent for the AfD
The evaluated data shows that 82 percent of potential AfD voters are completely dissatisfied with the performance of the current federal government. For other parties it is 32 percent. Five percent of AfD sympathizers “completely” and 13 percent “somewhat” agree with the statement that a dictatorship is the better form of government “under certain circumstances.” 28 percent of them agreed “partly/partly”, 18 percent “somewhat disagreed” and 35 percent “strongly disagreed”.
Overall, the data shows: The AfD’s potential voters are more diverse than the man from East Germany, over 50 and with little education. According to “Zeit”, Kumkar still believes it is possible that the party will get a maximum of 25 percent of the vote. This means that the “national-chauvinistic” potential that has always existed in Germany has been achieved. According to the report, this theory is supported by the fact that almost all participants in the evaluated study firmly reject the AfD who feel they belong to another party.