Protest Surveys: Pegida Demonstration in January 2015 in Dresden

Since 2003, researchers associated with the Institute for the Study of Protest and Social Movements (Institut für Protest- und Bewegungsforschung, ipb, http://protestinstitut.eu) have conducted surveys at demonstrations. This study is part of this ongoing series. The aim of the study is to gain insights into the composition and attitudes of participants at the weekly protests of Pegida (Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlands), a right-wing group that triggered a series of like-minded protests in 2015. The focus of the survey is particularly on socio-demographic characteristics, and political attitudes of respondents encountered at the demonstration. The demonstration under study took place on January 12th, 2015 in Dresden. Attendance at all the rallies was estimated between 17,000 (according to the research team) to 25,000 (according to local police). The questionnaire consisted of 33 questions. It was available in German only. In order to allow for comparison with earlier protest surveys, the questionnaire relied on questions used in earlier protest surveys. The questionnaire consists of the following sets of questions: • Protest mobilization, motivation, and support for the Pegida platform • Sociodemographic questions: gender, year of birth, nationality, education, occupation • Political attitudes, specifically with respect to Muslims in Germany • Protest activity and civic engagement • Political attitudes: evaluation of democracy, perception of democracy (open question), trust in institutions, self-placement on the political spectrum, voting tendency