French distrust of politics at its highest, according to a survey

French distrust of politics remains very high compared to other European countries, according to the annual Cevipof barometer* (PDF document) published Tuesday February 13. According to the study carried out by the OpinionWay polling institute for the Center for the Study of French Political Life, 68% of French people believe that “democracy is not working well”, an increase of 4 points in one year. The increase in this distrust is also noticeable in Italy (+5 points to 63%) and especially in Germany (+8 points to 47%).

Only 18% (+1) of French people believe that their opinion is “taken into account” by political leaders. There are more (33%) in Germany, but with a drop of 12 points over one year. When they think about politics, 37% of French people first experience “mistrust”a stable figure, compared to 30% in Italy (+1 point) and 30% also in Germany (+4 point).

Only 30% (+1) of French people judge their elected officials “rather honest” compared to 45% of Germans (-8) and 26% of Italians (-3). If 60% (+1) of French people say they are dissatisfied with the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, 68% of Germans are dissatisfied with their Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a figure up by… 23 points. In Italy, the unpopularity of head of government Georgia Meloni also increased by 9 points, but only reached 44%.

* Survey carried out in January, using the quota method, with a representative sample of 3,514 people in France, 1,632 in Germany and 1,706 in Italy.