Demokratiemonitor 2026: Strong Support for Democracy in Germany Despite Practical Shortcomings
Demokratiemonitor 2026: Bertelsmann finds broad support for democracy in Germany despite practical shortcomings; survey data, trends and political implications.
Bertelsmann report shows high approval of democratic values
The Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Demokratiemonitor 2026 finds that democracy in Germany retains substantial public backing, even as citizens report dissatisfaction with how it functions in practice. According to study author Robert Vehrkamp, roughly 82 percent of about 5,000 representative respondents expressed an above-average positive view of liberal democratic values. The finding signals widespread commitment to core principles such as free elections, civil liberties and the rule of law.
Vehrkamp emphasized that the high level of normative support coexists with critical assessments of everyday performance, a distinction the report treats as central to understanding public sentiment. Co-author Michael Koß and the research team interpret these attitudes as evidence that critique of democratic practice does not necessarily erode fundamental legitimacy. The study therefore frames its results as both a reassurance of resilience and a prompt for targeted improvement.
Elections rated strongly while institutions receive lower marks
Survey respondents were most satisfied with the principle and practice of elections, with nine in ten endorsing the electoral principle and 65 percent expressing satisfaction with how elections work in reality. Other pillars of democracy — such as parliament, government, separation of powers and citizens’ rights — retained broad normative support but much weaker practical approval. For example, only about 35 percent of respondents judged the implementation of civil rights positively, and satisfaction with the functioning of parliament stood near 31 percent.
Parties fare particularly poorly in practical terms: only 17 percent of respondents said political parties work well in practice, despite a 77 percent level of normative support noted in one section of the report. The gap between support for democratic ideals and satisfaction with everyday democratic performance is stark, and the report quantifies that dissonance as a key policy challenge. Researchers underline that the discrepancy warrants attention without generating undue alarm.
Performance index highlights a persistence of concerns
The Demokratiemonitor aggregates responses into two overarching scores: legitimacy — the public’s normative support — and performative satisfaction with democratic practice. While the legitimacy score averaged 82 percent across respondents, the performative score was much lower at just 29 percent. Vehrkamp described the performance figure as a clear indicator that many Germans feel the system could be improved on concrete measures of governance and institutional delivery.
Within the performance domain, satisfaction varied substantially by category, with elections ranking highest and parties lowest. Separation of powers and civil rights both scored in the mid‑30s on practical implementation, while public satisfaction with parliament and government hovered around the low 30s to low 50s. These internal differences suggest targeted reform opportunities rather than a uniform collapse of trust.
Methodology: repeated, large-scale polling from 2019 to 2025
The report’s findings are based on six survey waves conducted between 2019 and 2025, with each wave surveying more than 5,000 people and asking a battery of 72 questions. The research team measured both general support for democratic principles and ratings of their real-world functioning across eight categories. Aggregated indices were then computed to produce the legitimacy and performative scores that underpin the study’s headline conclusions.
The repeated-measures design allows the researchers to track trends over time and to compare current sentiment with the baseline in 2019. This approach provides both cross-sectional breadth and longitudinal depth, enabling the team to identify modest shifts as well as persistent patterns. The large sample size in each wave strengthens the reliability of the reported changes.
Trends since 2019 show modest improvements in several areas
While practical satisfaction remains lower than normative support, the Demokratiemonitor records improvements on several indicators compared with 2019. Parliament and parties each registered the largest gains, rising by five percentage points in normative measures, and other institutions posted smaller but positive shifts. Specific support values reported in the study include 78 percent for elections (+3 since 2019), 58 percent for civil rights (+1), and 58 percent for separation of powers (+4).
Not all measures moved upward; participation slipped by one point, and pockets of discontent persist. Nevertheless, the cumulative pattern led the authors to describe the overall trajectory as cautiously positive rather than deteriorating. The report frames these incremental gains as evidence of durability in the political system while leaving open questions about how to convert normative backing into stronger day‑to‑day performance.
Researchers call for pragmatic fixes without alarmism
Vehrkamp and Koß caution against overstating deficits in a way that might undermine confidence in democratic institutions. They argue that low performance scores become a genuine threat only if they translate into a collapse of legitimacy, which the current data do not indicate. At the same time, the authors stress that the results are not a “democratic policy hammock” and that efforts to improve the functioning of institutions are both necessary and desirable.
The report’s recommendations center on pragmatic reforms to increase transparency, parliamentary responsiveness and party renewal, aiming to narrow the gap between democratic ideals and citizen experience. Policymakers and party leaders are urged to treat the findings as both a mandate to act and an encouraging sign that citizens remain invested in democratic solutions. The study presents a window for constructive policy work rather than a mandate for pessimism.
Germany’s public may thus be characterized as supportive but exacting: committed to democracy in principle while demanding better performance in practice. The Demokratiemonitor 2026 frames that duality as an opportunity for reformers to bolster institutions and for political leaders to rebuild trust through concrete, measurable improvements.
