Good afternoon, and welcome to Talking Europe for Thursday, January 9, 2020!
Which institutions do Germans trust?
Below is a ranking of institutions by the percentage of Germans who say, according to a recent poll, that they have “great confidence” in them.
(The German word that was used, “Vertrauen,” can be translated as “confidence” but also as “trust.”)
Police — 80% have “great confidence”
Doctors — 80%
Universities — 77%
Constitutional Court — 74%
Own employer — 68%
Municipal enterprises — 67%
Courts — 66%
Polling organizations — 59%
Radio — 54%
Army — 45%
Trade unions — 44%
Press — 43%
Central Council of Jews — 40%
Lutheran Church — 36%
Credit unions — 33%
Television — 30%
Pope — 29%
Businesspeople — 26%
Employers’ associations — 25%
Banks — 19%
Insurance companies — 18%
Catholic Church — 14%
Islam — 9%
Managers — 8%
Advertising agencies — 3%
(Source: RTL/ntv-Trendbarometer)
Which of their politicians do Germans like most?
These are kind of like the American “approval rating” polls, except the word used is “Zufriedenheit,” which means “satisfaction.” So these are the politicians Germans think are performing satisfactorily, if not extraordinarily.
Angela Merkel — 53% (chancellor, Christian Democrat)
Heiko Maas — 45% (foreign minister, Social Democrat)
Olaf Scholz — 44% (finance minister, Social Democrat)
Horst Seehofer — 44% (interior minister, Christian Social Union)
Peter Altmaier — 38% (economics minister, Christian Democrat)
Robert Habeck — 37% (co-leader of the Green Party)
Christian Lindner — 36% (leader of the Free Democrats)
Franziska Giffey — 34% (family minister, Social Democrat)
Katja Kipping — 24% (co-leader, Left Party)
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer — 23% (defense minister and leader of Christian Democrats)
Alice Weidel — 14% (caucus chair, Alternative for Germany)
Sakia Esken — 13% (co-leader of the Social Democrats)
(Source: ARD DeutschlandTrend)
A few points that jump out from this one: first, half of these politicians are women. Second, some people are overperforming, i.e., they have managed to reach a level of personal popularity and name recognition that is higher than that of their party. I don’t count the top five names on the list as overperformers because they are big-time ministers and really famous, always on TV, etc. But Robert Habeck, no. 6, without being in the government, is significantly more popular than both his party, the Greens — and more popular than his co-chair of that party, Annalena Baerbock. Same for numbers 7, 8, and 9, Lindner, Giffey, and Kipping. They are all a lot more popular than their parties, the FDP, SPD, and Left, respectively.
Alice Weidel and Saskia Esken, nos. 11 and 12, have pretty much the same level of popularity as their respective parties, the AfD and the SPD.
But that brings me to my third point: there is a major underperformer on this list, and that is Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK). She’s far less popular than her party; she’s far less popular than the other major cabinet ministers from her party; and, as both CDU chair and defense minister, it’s not like she can argue that her problem is lack of publicity.
In December 2018, AKK was chosen by the party to succeed Merkel, but she doesn’t look like a very formidable chancellor candidate. This fact will drive a lot of what happens in German politics over the next year or so, as the end of the Merkel era (autumn 2021 at the latest) gets ever closer.
What are the biggest problems, according to Germans?
Refugees/Asylum policy/Integration [of foreigners] — 31%
Climate change/Environment — 27%
Education/Training — 15%
Social injustice/Poverty — 15%
Pensions — 13%
Transporation/Traffice — 8%
Energy policy — 8%
Family policy — 7%
Domestic security/Crime/Terrorism — 6%
(Source: ARD DeutschlandTrend)
The number answering “refugees” is down from 47% in 2017. Overall, as a foreigner I gotta say this looks like a country that doesn’t have a lot to worry about. Similar polls in the U.S. show around two-thirds of Americans worried about how to afford medical care and education. So: dear Germans, some people in the world have actual problems.
Still, only 36 percent of Germans said they were “satisfied” (35%) or “very satisfied” (1%!) with the performance of the federal government. Only 35% said the situation in the country is cause for optimism, while 60% said the situation “gives cause for concern.”
I wonder what they would say if they had health insurance policies with $7,000 deductibles? I guess we’ll never know.
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