2024-03-17 14:19:39
In Austria, satisfaction with the functioning of democracy and the work of the government has fallen. This is one of the results of a study that contemporary historian Oliver Rathkolb from the University of Vienna presented on Sunday at the “Democracy has a Future” matinee in the Burgtheater. According to this, in 2022 only 9 percent of Austrians surveyed were “very satisfied” with the way democracy works in their country.
The online survey on “authoritarianism, historical perceptions and democratic positions” commissioned for a study by the Vienna Institute for Cultural and Contemporary History (VICCA), for which representative samples of 2,000 surveys each were conducted in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and Great Britain as well as 1000 surveys each in Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary, paint an inconsistent picture overall. However, the dissatisfaction with incumbent politicians and an increasing desire for a strong leader can be seen as a trend that can be seen on the Burgtheater stage in Rathkolb with Misha Glenny (IWM), Cathrin Kahlweit (“Süddeutsche Zeitung”) and Sylvia Kritzinger (University of Vienna) was discussed.
Compared to a 2019 survey, support for the statement “People like me have no say in what the government does” increased in all countries with the exception of Hungary and the Czech Republic (in Austria from 42 to 44 percent). However, 79 percent (plus 2 percentage points) agreed with the statement “Democracy is the best form of government, even if it can cause problems” in Austria in 2022, more than in any other of the remaining seven countries. At the same time, satisfaction with the government’s work fell from 43 to 19 percent in Austria, according to the study.
The survey conducted in November and December 2022 also asked about aspects of the Ukraine war. When asked how great a threat they believe the Russian invasion poses to the security of their respective country, Austrians were by far the least impressed: only 30 percent considered the danger to be very great or great. At the other end of the scale is Poland, where security concerns were highest at 66 percent.
At the event, Annamária Láng, Tobias Moretti, Martin Schwab and Marie-Luise Stockinger read new literary reflections by European authors on democracy and authoritarianism, written especially for the matinee. The Italian Antonio Scurati dealt with fascism and populism, Sabine Gruber based on her own experiences with Italian politics in South Tyrol, Gerhild Steinbuch with the brutalization of language and Dorota Masłowska with hate speech on the Internet. There were also contributions from Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, Michal Hvorecký, Terézia Mora and Tena Štivičić. Kathrin Röggla had written a dialogue in which the threat to democracy was discussed: “They are talking about day X that is coming. They will be faster. We are always too slow.”
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