What Is a State Without the Support of Its People?

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

What Is a State Without the Support of Its People?

What happens when a nation’s people think their government is failing? Germany shows us the answer.

Politics in Germany have taken a sharp turn in the past few months. The massive influx of refugees changed the lives of many Germans and the way they view their government. An ard survey published April 22 showed that many Germans have lost trust in the competence of their government.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) is growing in popularity. The party draws support from voters disgruntled with the current leadership. In the last three state elections, held in March, the AfD won 12 to 24 percent of the popular vote.

Yet the refugee crisis lingered. Only 46 percent of people believe that the coalition will get the refugee crisis under control, according to the ard survey. Fifty-two percent think the government is incompetent in this matter. Moreover, 47 percent doubt the government’s ability to prevent terrorist attacks.

Last month, Germany made an agreement with Turkey to work together in solving the refugee crisis. But this too was unpopular. Eighty percent of Germans think Turkey is an unreliable partner, according to a recent zdf survey. Just after the agreement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered the prosecution of Jon Böhmermann, a German satirist who published an insulting poem about Erdoğan. German Chancellor Angela Merkel jumped to Erdoğan’s support. Two thirds of respondents believe Merkel overreacted because of political expediency.

As a result, Chancellor Merkel is losing the sympathy of the German people. According to the zdf survey, she only rated 0.9 on a scale from +5 to -5 measuring popularity. That’s her lowest score since 2011. Nonetheless, she is holding to her refugee policy against popular opinion

The once stable chancellor and her party are losing German support as they make unpopular decisions. Germany is groaning for different leadership—if trends don’t reverse, it will get that leadership very soon. Read “Watch Germany!” to understand what lies ahead for the German people.