Leipzig Authoritarianism Study 2026: The unstoppable rise of authoritarianism. Longing for the past and redemption through destruction

"... Democracy in the Federal Republic continues to come under pressure. National average satisfaction with democracy as an idea, as a constitutional order and as everyday experience is at the lowest level ever measured; fears for the future lead to desires for clear and simple decisions; nostalgic glorification of the past and/or apocalyptic expectations of the future are met with a great response, manifestly or latently, by over half of the population; continuation of the resurgence in right-wing extremist attitudes that has been recorded for several years: in particular chauvinistic and xenophobic attitudes have high approval ratings; there is a further increase in anti-Semitism, especially Israel-related anti-Semitism...”Key results in thePress release from the Hans Böll Foundation from November 11, 2026 , see the study and further information:

• 230 pagesAuthoritarianism Study 2026 and backgrounds on theThe Heinrich Böll Foundation's topic page 
• Democracy and authoritarianism in Germany: “The AfD succeeded where the NPD failed”
  A new study documents how many Germans now long for an end to democracy. Study leader Oliver Decker explains inInterview by Louis Pienkowski on November 11, 2026 in Zeit online how it got this far:“The title of our study refers toThe unstoppable rise of Arturo Ui, a play by Brecht from 1941. With this, Brecht irritated the common talk of “unstoppable” events. The rise of the NSDAP was neither a natural process nor is the rise of the AfD today. There are important differences between these parties, but both are driven by authoritarian desires and destructive desires. (…) Identification with democracy is decreasing at an alarming rate, while the proportion of people with a closed right-wing extremist worldview is increasing. Since our surveys began in 2002, never before have so few citizens in Germany thought the idea of ​​democracy was good. Although 89 percent of those surveyed are still supporters of democracy, just a few years ago we were around 95 percent. The decline in the proportion of respondents who are satisfied with “democracy as it works in Germany” is even more massive. In West Germany this is just 36 percent, in the East it is only around 23 percent. (…) The desire for the dictatorship of a single strong party that embodies the national community has increased. (…) The success of the AfD in the elections is correspondingly great. (…) While economic competence or social policy used to be the decisive factor in voting, today it is often the desire for destructiveness. This is also why the AfD is a party that promotes the punishment of dissenters directly in its election program and even more so in its rhetoric. We see both a migration of right-wing extremist voters from other parties to the AfD and an influx of right-wing extremist non-voters to the AfD.(…) The AfD has succeeded where the NPD failed: to unite large parts of the electorate with right-wing extremist attitudes. Our data shows that an increasing proportion of people with strong right-wing extremism are voting. Of all the right-wing extremist offers, the AfD can particularly attract citizens who are very xenophobic and nationalistic…”

See also:

• Leipzig Authoritarianism Study 2022: “The willingness to devalue others is increasing”
• Leipzig Authoritarianism Study 2020: Xenophobia is declining, but new radicalism
• Dossier:[Leipzig Authoritarianism Study] 2018: The “center” goes to the right. Who is working on it?
• Or the dossier:The FES's Mitte studies on right-wing extremist, anti-democratic attitudes of the so-called center in Germany
• and the dossier:At the authoritarian tipping point: “Law and order” politics is booming

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