The study defines “populism” as some basic convictions, including a rejection of the EU, general reservations about immigration, a critical view on current interpretations of human rights, and a preference for foreign policy based on national sovereign interests.
In the UK and Italy, around half the population feel they threatened by immigration, while in France some 63 percent feel excluded from the political process.
Romania had the highest level of sympathy for popular political themes at 82 percent, followed by Poland at 78 percent.
Mostly older Germans sympathize with anti-immigration parties like the Alternative for Germany (AfD), more than younger voters, the survey revealed. Germans with high or low levels of education were the least concerned with popular themes. Only middle-income groups felt they were government targets.
While 57 percent of moderately educated respondents had “populist” ideas, only around 20 percent of those with either limited or high levels of education shared the same ideas.
German men are also much more likely to be receptive to “populism” than women at 65 percent compared to 35 percent.
According to Die Welt, the survey was designed to reveal populism on both sides of the political spectrum.
Such sympathies were almost exclusively on the right in Germany, as a result of centrist parties, the CDU and CSU, governing in a coalition with leftists of the SPD.
“While in other European countries, above all in France, we are seeing a strong leaning towards an authoritarian populism, Germany is the country most capable of resisting this,” Joe Twyman, research director at YouGov told Die Welt.
“Spain also has a low level of populist feeling which indicated that the recent history of both countries could explain this.”
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