Most young Germans see no point in politics, survey says – DW – 12/12/2024
www.dw.com
The majority of young people in Germany see no point in becoming involved with politics, according to a survey. Most see too many hurdles and believe politicians don't take their worries seriously, the report said.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23060161

Summary

A survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation found that most young Germans (ages 16-30) feel disillusioned with politics, citing distrust, lack of influence, and insufficient avenues for engagement beyond voting.

Only 8% believe politicians take their concerns seriously, and fewer than 1 in 5 feel they can enact change.

Despite this, 61% still see democracy as the best system.

The findings come as Germany faces potential elections after its coalition collapse, with experts urging politicians to better involve youth on key issues like peace, education, and inflation.

  • DandomRude@lemmy.worldEnglish
    191·
    14 days ago

    I don’t think the situation is likely to be much different for adults, as German mainstream politics unfortunately hardly represents the interests of the population anymore, but increasingly only those of the economic elite.

    CDU politician Friedrich Merz, the candidate for chancellor of the largest popular party and, unfortunately, presumably the next German chancellor, is just one example of many: The man was head of the supervisory board of Black Rock Germany until 2020 and has always been a keen business lobbyist throughout his whole career (source).

    Both the top candidates and the minor functionaries of many other parties have similar “affiliations” that can hardly be described as anything else than open corruption. The fact that the press continuously uses the trivializing PR term lobbyism in this context should not fool anyone anymore.

    However, as there are hardly any credible alternatives, people still have to vote for these established parties - or worse still: they vote for the opportunistic demagogues of the AfD, who pursue the same neoliberal economic policy but hide this fact behind xenophobic and of course absolutely fictitious bogus, just like the MAGA people in the USA.

    So I guess it’s not too surprising that many Germans have lost faith in politics - I’m pretty sure that this is true for most age groups.