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A sign posted in Berlin. (Photo: aesthetics of crisis/flickr/cc)
Majority of Germans: We Don't Have a Real Democracy
New poll also shows a third of respondents say capitalism is root of hunger and poverty.
Feb 24, 2015
A new German survey has a finding that may strike a particular chord with those in the United States.
Over 60 percent of Germans said their country did not have a true democracy because business has a bigger say than the electorate, the survey by the Emnid polling institute for the Free University of Berlin found.
The finding echoes results of a previous study in the U.S. that found a similar percentage opposed the 2010 Citizens United decision that opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate spending on elections, and said that the voices of the electorate were being drowned out by big-moneyed interests.
Twenty percent of the German respondents also said that improved living conditions will be achieved through revolution, not reforms, and a third of respondents said that capitalism was the root of hunger and poverty.
The survey also touched on the issue exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: vast state-level surveillance.
Nearly half of those polled said there's been an increase in surveillance of left-wing dissidents, and 27 percent said that by spying on its citizens, the country is headed towards a dictatorship.
The Local reports that the poll shows "a public much further to the left than previously thought."
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A new German survey has a finding that may strike a particular chord with those in the United States.
Over 60 percent of Germans said their country did not have a true democracy because business has a bigger say than the electorate, the survey by the Emnid polling institute for the Free University of Berlin found.
The finding echoes results of a previous study in the U.S. that found a similar percentage opposed the 2010 Citizens United decision that opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate spending on elections, and said that the voices of the electorate were being drowned out by big-moneyed interests.
Twenty percent of the German respondents also said that improved living conditions will be achieved through revolution, not reforms, and a third of respondents said that capitalism was the root of hunger and poverty.
The survey also touched on the issue exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: vast state-level surveillance.
Nearly half of those polled said there's been an increase in surveillance of left-wing dissidents, and 27 percent said that by spying on its citizens, the country is headed towards a dictatorship.
The Local reports that the poll shows "a public much further to the left than previously thought."
A new German survey has a finding that may strike a particular chord with those in the United States.
Over 60 percent of Germans said their country did not have a true democracy because business has a bigger say than the electorate, the survey by the Emnid polling institute for the Free University of Berlin found.
The finding echoes results of a previous study in the U.S. that found a similar percentage opposed the 2010 Citizens United decision that opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate spending on elections, and said that the voices of the electorate were being drowned out by big-moneyed interests.
Twenty percent of the German respondents also said that improved living conditions will be achieved through revolution, not reforms, and a third of respondents said that capitalism was the root of hunger and poverty.
The survey also touched on the issue exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: vast state-level surveillance.
Nearly half of those polled said there's been an increase in surveillance of left-wing dissidents, and 27 percent said that by spying on its citizens, the country is headed towards a dictatorship.
The Local reports that the poll shows "a public much further to the left than previously thought."
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