Non-voters in the Federal Elections 2017

The aim of the study is to learn more about the motives, but also about the structures and preferences of non-voters. A distinction is to be made between permanent and sporadic non-voters. Furthermore, proposals and argumentation patterns that are intended to increase voter turnout are to be tested for their resonance and success potential in the target group.

Topics: 1. Socio-economic factors and personal living conditions: life satisfaction; assessment of the general economic situation in the country and the own economic situation; responsibility of the policy of the last Federal Government for the current economic situation in the country and the own economic situation; subjective class affiliation; religiosity; social involvement: memberships (political party, sports or leisure club or group with cultural interests, other group/other club); affiliation with trade unions; statements on the general situation in Germany (Germany is a prosperous country, where most people are doing well, a feeling of social dependency, comprehensive and solidary concern of the welfare state for the weaker, concerns about the reception of many refugees, competitive thinking in society, it is fair in Germany, fear of terrorist attacks, feeling of insecurity in the evening on foot or in public transport, increasingly aggressive tone in the media and on the Internet, social inequality in Germany is now too great).

2. Political attitudes and political behaviour: political interest; frequency of use of selected media for political information; interest in the election campaign for the federal elections; frequency of political activities (e.g. petition supported, participation in a demonstration, etc.).); satisfaction with democracy; democracy as a good form of government; satisfaction with the work of the Federal Government; opinion on the need for reform in Germany; statements on politics in Germany (politics too complicated, too few possibilities for political influence, lack of political ability to solve problems, too little disclosure of political decision-making processes, powerless politics, determining economy, too great expectations of the citizens on politics, politics cares about really important problems, necessity of political compromises for reconciliation of interests); attitudes towards politicians and parties (parties only care about power, party promises are not kept, new parties necessary because old ones do not offer a solution, no party with a convincing offer, popular parties CDU and SPD no longer differ from each other, politicians are presented worse in the media than they actually are, politicians´ language is foreign and incomprehensible, politicians take care of the concerns of ordinary people); opinion on representative democracy; party identification; change voter; reasons for non-election in the last federal elections (open); general motives for non-election; opinion on selected proposals to increase voter turnout (e.g. reduction of the voting age to 16 years, etc.); opinion on a general duty to vote in Germany.

Demography: sex; age; household size; education; employment; professional status; federal state; size of community; net household income (grouped).

Additionally coded was: ID; eligibility to vote in the 2017 federal elections; type and frequency of voter participation; weighting factor.

研究旨在深入探究非选民的动机，及其结构特征与偏好。需区分永久非选民与偶发性非选民两类群体。此外，还需测试旨在提高选民投票率（voter turnout）的提案与论证模式在目标群体中的共鸣度及成功潜力。

主题：
1. 社会经济因素与个人生活状况：生活满意度；对国家整体经济形势及自身经济状况的评估；上届联邦政府政策对当前国家及个人经济状况的责任；主观阶层归属；宗教信仰；社会参与度：成员身份（政党、体育或休闲俱乐部、文化兴趣团体、其他团体/俱乐部）；工会归属；关于德国总体形势的陈述（德国是一个繁荣的国家，大多数人生活良好；社会依赖感；福利国家对弱势群体全面且团结的关怀；对接收大量难民的担忧；社会中的竞争思维；德国社会公平；对恐怖袭击的恐惧；晚间步行或乘坐公共交通时的不安全感；媒体及互联网上日益激进的语气；德国当前社会不平等问题过于严重）。

2. 政治态度与政治行为：政治兴趣；使用特定媒体获取政治信息的频率；对联邦选举竞选活动的兴趣；政治活动频率（如支持请愿、参与示威等）；民主满意度；民主作为良好政体的认知；对联邦政府工作的满意度；对德国改革必要性的看法；关于德国政治的陈述（政治过于复杂、政治影响力途径过少、缺乏解决问题的政治能力、政治决策过程透明度不足、政治无力、经济主导、公民对政治期望过高、政治关注真正重要的问题、为协调利益需进行政治妥协）；对政客及政党的态度（政党仅关注权力、政党承诺未兑现、旧政党无法提供解决方案故需新政党、无政党提出有说服力的方案、主流政党基民盟（CDU）与社民党（SPD）已无差异、媒体对政客的报道比实际更负面、政客语言晦涩难懂、政客关注普通民众的关切）；对代议制民主的看法；政党认同（party identification）；摇摆选民（change voter）；上届联邦选举未投票的原因（开放式）；未投票的一般动机；对提高选民投票率的特定提案的看法（如投票年龄降至16岁等）；对德国强制投票制的看法。

人口统计学特征：性别；年龄；家庭规模；教育程度；就业状况；职业地位；联邦州；社区规模；家庭净收入（分组）。

额外编码项：身份标识（ID）；2017年联邦选举投票资格；选民参与类型及频率；权重因子。