The level of satisfaction with everyday democracy was relatively high in the initial euphoria of German re-unification, particularly in the new Laender, but soon declined considerably. The 1990s showed that support for the democratic idea weakens when the discrepancy between the ideal and the reality of everyday politics becomes too wide. This is one of the key results of the recurrent youth surveys carried out by the German Youth Institute. For this reason, the authors focus on the question of how young people accept the democratic system and its procedural rules. The answers show that their opinions depend on their respective circumstances and the resulting assessment of social relations. This is why young people give different answers to the question of whether and to which extent the democratic system has proved its worth in the first decade of reunified Germany. Some are content, and others are critical or distanced democrats in ways typical for the western and for the eastern parts of Germany.
Desinterest for politics in Eastern and Western Germany Standpoint of German adolescents and young adults
The discontent and distrust towards politicians, particularly in the new Länder, are at the core of the disinterest inspired by politics. However, the comparison with the adult population in various fields suggests that this phenomenon is not exclusively juvenile. Furthermore, the changes do not indicate any erosion of the young people’s relation to democracy and the State, even if the decline of the political interest and satisfaction with regard to democracy in the new Länder and the weak confidence of the political system in its will to react do not allow to expect a rapid harmonization of the political views in the East and the West.
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