Once a year, the Forsa Institute determines the reputation of 36 institutions. The reputation of medicine and security authorities remains good, but more and more Germans distrust politics. However, a newcomer ends up in last place in the ranking.
Germans trust doctors and the police the most and are most distrustful of social media and advertising agencies. This is the result of the new edition of the institutional ranking, which Forsa has been regularly determining on behalf of stern, RTL and ntv for almost two decades. For this purpose, 36 institutions from politics, business and society were asked whether citizens had a lot of trust in them. Doctors (81 percent), the police (81 percent) and universities (73 percent) remain at the top. In addition, the Federal Constitutional Court (74 percent, plus 4 percentage points) and the courts in general (71 percent, plus 3 percentage points) have significantly improved values compared to the previous year. The Bundeswehr had the strongest increase at seven percentage points, with 53 percent now placing great trust in it.
For the first time, the reputation of social media was surveyed, which, together with advertising agencies, ended up in last place in the ranking. Only three percent of Germans have a lot of trust in them. The results for traditional media are significantly better: radio 50 percent, press 41 percent and television 27 percent.
Trust in political institutions is collapsing
Trust in the central political institutions at the federal level has fallen further. Only 20 percent have a lot of trust in the Chancellor – 13 percent less than a year ago. The decline in reputation of the federal government as a whole is just as severe, with only 21 percent. The figures for the Bundestag show that this is not just a problem for the traffic light coalition. He also only achieved a trust value of 32 percent – five percentage points less. Only 13 percent trust political parties – a decrease of four percentage points.
What is particularly striking is how great the distrust of AfD supporters is towards everyone and everything. The larger their share of voters, the more their views shape the overall picture. Only 34 percent trust the Federal Constitutional Court, only eight percent in the press and only one percent in the Federal Chancellor. Only one value is significantly higher than in the rest of the population: 14 percent of AfD voters trust social media.
The data was compiled by the market and opinion research institute forsa for stern und RTL Germany collected between December 6th and 12th, 2023. Database: 4002 respondents. Statistical error tolerance: +/- 2.5 percentage points
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
