How differently do people behave politically in the rural areas and in the big city? The approval ratings differ significantly for one party in particular.
According to an analysis, there are clear differences between cities and rural areas when it comes to sympathies for parties.
For example, the CDU receives the greatest popularity in rural areas, but in big cities it is much lower, as the Konrad Adenauer Foundation has found. The Greens are therefore rejected by the majority in the countryside, but liked by the majority in the city. The AfD is met with widespread rejection everywhere, but this is stronger in the city than in the countryside.
According to the foundation, the analysis is based on two surveys that were conducted between October 2022 and January 2023 and between June 2023 and September 2023, each among around 4,000 people. Depending on the population, a distinction was made between “rural country”, “condensed country”, “city” and “large city”.
The analysis shows that sympathy for the CDU, for example, is 47 percent in the sparsely populated countryside, but only 39 percent in the big city. With the SPD it is the other way around. In rural areas it has a likeability rating of 39 percent, but in big cities it has a rating of 51 percent. The differences are much larger for the Greens: In places where it is particularly rural, only 30 percent said that they like the Greens somewhat or very much. In the big city, however, it was 52 percent.
AfD meets with the greatest aversion of all parties
In rural areas, 67 percent of those surveyed said they somewhat or strongly disapproved of the AfD; in big cities the figure was as high as 82 percent. Support for the AfD is twice as high in rural areas, at 20 percent, as in the city, where it is 10 percent. The Left also has significantly better popularity ratings in big cities (28 percent) than in rural areas (15 percent). In the FDP they are fairly evenly distributed at 26 (large cities) to 27 percent (rural).
There are also differences in people’s worries and fears and in their assessment of topics. For example, fear of a military attack on Germany is significantly higher in sparsely populated regions (47 percent) than in big cities (33 percent). Immigration to Germany also scares more people in rural areas (40 percent) than in big cities (25 percent). And satisfaction with democracy is significantly lower in rural areas (38 percent) than in big cities (52 percent).
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.
