Spring Study 1989

Attitude to current political questions and to the European Community. Topics: fear of the future; judgement on the current economic situation of the FRG and future development; interest in politics; feeling of political effectiveness; most important political problems in the Federal Republic; issue competence of the parties; preference for national or EC-wide problem solutions; party inclination and party identification; party inclination in principle or based on the situation; personal change in party voted for; behavior at the polls in the last Federal Parliament election and European Election; satisfaction with the elected party; party preference (ballot procedure); eligibility of the Republicans and attitude to this party´s taking seats in the Federal Parliament; the feeling that politics has failed in important matters; sympathy scale for the major parties; self-classification and classification of the parties on a left-right continuum; national pride; attitude to the right for foreigners to vote in municipal elections; significance of municipal, state, Federal and European elections; identity as a European; importance of a united Western Europe; advantages and disadvantages for the country from EC membership; acceptance of disadvantages to support poorer EC countries; knowledge about the European Parliament in Strassburg; evaluation of the work of the European Parliament; progress or steps backward for Europe since the last European Election; importance of the coming European Election; intent to participate in the next European Election; most important reasons for or against election participation; preference in the European Election (ballot procedure); certainty of one´s voting decision; influence of Western European unification on the reunification of Germany; preference for European currency or national currency; preferred further development of the EC and desired speed of unification; achieving or deferring national interests in the EC; appropriateness of Germany´s payments to the EC; familiarity of changes in payments to the EC; familiarity of the European domestic market and hopes and fears connected with it; reasons for these fears; desired relationship between Europe and the USA; most competent party regarding Europe; politicians making particular efforts for Europe; general evaluation of EC membership of the Federal Republic; religiousness; ties to church; employment in the civil service; worker, employee or civil servant; fear of short time work or unemployment; self-classification of social class; union membership and solidarity with the union; possession of a telephone; number of eligible voters in the household. Also encoded were: length of interview; date of interview; city size.