Online survey - 70 percent consider the state to be overburdened
70 percent of the population consider the German state to be overburdened, according to a survey conducted by the Forsa institute on behalf of the German Civil Service Federation (dbb) in May 2023. Only 25 percent believe that it can fulfill its duties.
The state is perceived as overburdened above all in the areas of asylum and refugee policy, education policy, and internal security. In Eastern Germany, mistrust is greater than in the Western part of the republic: 77 percent of the interviewees in the East stated that the state was not fulfilling its duties according to their perception. In the West, this was the case for 69 percent.
Trust varies depending on the party
The survey also showed significant mistrust among supporters of the AfD and FDP. Ninety percent of AfD supporters stated that they considered the state to be overburdened. For the FDP, this figure was 85 percent. Among supporters of the SPD and Greens, trust is significantly higher. Here, only 54 and 50 percent, respectively, believe that the state cannot fulfill its tasks properly.
Trust in the state's ability to handle its tasks and problems has been declining continuously since the first pandemic year 2020. At that time, only 40 percent of respondents stated that they considered the state to be overburdened. However, in the annual survey conducted even before the Corona period in 2019, 61 percent had already considered the state to be overburdened.
For dbb chairman Ulrich Silberbach, this development is still concerning. He does not assume that political decision-makers have drawn the right conclusions from these trust levels, he said in Berlin.
Surveyed were 2001 representative individuals aged 14 and over, according to the Civil Service Federation. Once again, as in previous years, the survey focused on the professions that the interviewees particularly esteemed and those that enjoyed less esteem among them.
Firefighters topped the list of professions with the highest esteem this year, with 94 percent of respondents stating that they held this group in high or very high esteem. In second place were nursing staff (90 percent), doctors and nurses, and elderly care staff (each 86 percent).
Police officers and policewomen received a score of 81 percent, kindergarten teachers 78 percent, and refuse collectors and judges and judges 70 percent. Only 35 percent stated that they held civil servants and civil servants in particularly high esteem.
The lowest esteem was once again held by politicians and politicians (14 percent), employees of a telecommunications company (11 percent), or an advertising agency (6 percent), and insurance salespeople (6 percent). The greatest increase in esteem this year was recorded by judges and judges and soldiers (each +5 percentage points). Trust in the police and in civil servants increased by three percentage points each.
- In Berlin, Ulrich Silberbach, the dbb chairman, expressed concern about the continuous decline in trust in the state's ability to handle its tasks and problems since 2020.
- The Forsa institute, on behalf of the dbb, conducted a survey in May 2023, revealing that 70 percent of the population consider the German state to be overburdened.
- Only 25 percent believe that the state can fulfill its duties, with mistrust particularly pronounced in Eastern Germany, where 77 percent of interviewees stated that the state was not fulfilling its duties according to their perception.
- Trust in the state varies depending on political party, as demonstrated by the survey, with 90 percent of AfD supporters and 85 percent of FDP supporters considering the state to be overburdened.
- In contrast, trust is significantly higher among SPD and Greens supporters, with only 54 and 50 percent believing that the state cannot fulfill its tasks properly.
- The survey also highlighted the professions with the highest esteem, with firefighters topping the list at 94 percent, followed by nursing staff, doctors, nurses, and elderly care staff.
- The police, kindergarten teachers, refuse collectors, and judges also received high marks, while politicians, telecommunications employees, advertisers, and insurance salespeople were at the bottom of the list.
- Trust in the police and civil servants increased by three percentage points each in this year's survey, while judges and soldiers also saw an increase in esteem of five percentage points.
- Asylum and refugee policy, education policy, and internal security are the areas where the state is perceived as overburdened above all by the German population, according to the survey.
