Only every third East German believes in freedom of expression in Germany
Allensbach - Only every third citizen in the eastern federal states believes that they are completely free to express themselves politically in Germany. According to the "Freedom Index 2022" published on Thursday by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy, 34 percent of those surveyed in East Germany said they could speak freely in Germany, reports the editorial network Germany. In the western federal states, 52 percent feel they can express their opinion freely.
The figure for the entire Federal Republic is 48 percent. In the previous year, the figure was 45 percent, which was an all-time low. In 2017 , 63 percent of Germans felt they could express their political opinions freely. In 1990, 78 percent held this view.
Questioning about subjective feeling of freedom
At the same time, identification with the state and satisfaction with democracy declined. 43 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement "the state, that's all of us" and that "it is up to us citizens how Germany develops". Last year it was 47 percent. Nationwide, almost one in five (21 percent) is "not very satisfied" with the functioning of democracy in Germany. This means a slight increase of 3 percentage points compared to 2021. In the east, the value is almost twice as high as in the west.
Just under every tenth (12.6 percent) is “very satisfied” with the functioning of the local democracy. This is the lowest value since 2006 (10 percent). In eastern Germany, only 5.5 percent of those surveyed stated that they were "very satisfied".
For the representative study, the Institute for Demoscopy Allensbach and the research institute “Media Tenor” interviewed 1,006 people aged 16 and over in November and December. Allensbach raises the importance of freedom and the subjective feeling of freedom in the population every year.
Source: Junge Freiheit
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