Democratic Attitudes and Voting Behaviour

Our representative analysis shows that foreigners are the most satisfied with democracy in Germany. When it comes to evaluating fundamental democratic rights and values, there are hardly any differences between Germans, Germans with a migrant background and foreigners resident in Germany. 

It is apparent, however, that among foreigners and Muslims, the positive attitude to freedom of expression and of religion reaches its limit in the protection of one’s own faith against insults. This appears to result in a conflict between the understanding of general freedom of expression and the interpretation of freedom of expression specifically in relation to perceived insults to a person’s own faith.The voting behaviour of people with a migrant background followed a fixed pattern over a very long time. Ethnic German repatriates voted disproportionately often for the CDU/CSU, and those of Turkish descent for the Social Democrats. Our survey shows that these groups have acquired a high degree of party-political mobility in the meantime. In terms of who they intend to vote for, the CDU/CSU has considerably increased its share among eligible voters of Turkish descent from 2015 to 2019.

Read the entire Facts & Findings here as a PDF.