Only 4 percent of 1957 Frankfurt students were stable democrats

Evidence

If one assumed that a deep-seated democratic tendency was present when the political disposition of a committed person or of a thoughtful citizen coincided with a genuinely democratic tendency and a social-equality view of society, only 4 per cent of all those questioned were stable democrats. Out of the 52 subjects questioned who had been classed as genuine democrats' in terms of their political tendency, only six remained under these criteria. By contrast, 6 per cent of the sample were stubborn authoritarians, those whose political dispositions of commitment or thoughtful citizenship were combined with an authoritarian political tendency and an élitist view of society11 of the 37 who had been classed as authoritarian’ in terms of political tendency. When the criteria were relaxed, the proportions did not become more favourable. A definitely democratic potential' of 9 per cent contrasted with a definitely authoritarian potential’ of 16 per cent. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2350

Categorization

• XREF: Mirror-image of the earlier Weimar finding that only 15 percent of left-wing voters were radical in both thought and feeling (ch26).