State Election in North Rhine-Westphalia 2017

Assessment of parties and politicians. Attitude towards political issues.

Topics: eligibility to vote in the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia; most important political issues in North Rhine-Westphalia; intention to participate in the state election; intended voting type (polling station or postal vote); party preference (first vote and second vote); certainty of personal voting decision; importance of federal policy for the personal voting decision at state level; interest in the state election; voting behaviour in the last state election; coalition preference; attitude towards a government of SPD and CDU under the leadership of SPD, of CDU and SPD under the leadership of CDU, of CDU, Greens and FDP, of SPD, Greens and FDP, split B: to a government of SPD and Greens, of SPD, Greens and Left (end of split B), split A: a government of CDU and Greens, of CDU and FDP as well as SPD and FDP (end of split A); sympathy scale for selected parties at federal and state level; satisfaction with the state government of SPD and Greens, the individual parties SPD and Greens in the state government, the parties CDU, FDP and Piratenpartei in the opposition in the state parliament and the federal government of CDU/CSU and SPD (Skalometer); knowledge of the top candidates of the SPD and CDU for Prime Minister; sympathy scale for selected top politicians (Hannelore Kraft, Armin Laschet, Christian Lindner, Sylvia Löhrmann, Angela Merkel, Marcus Pretzell and Martin Schulz); party that pleases best and second best; political interest; preference for Hannelore Kraft or Armin Laschet as Prime Minister; split A: comparison of credibility, sympathy, expertise and energy of the two leading politicians Hannelore Kraft and Armin Laschet (end of split A); assessment of the economic situation of the federal state in general and in comparison with the other western German states; economic expectations for North Rhine-Westphalia; assessment of the personal economic situation at present and in one year; split B: most competent party for solving the economic and financial problems in the federal state, in the areas of job creation, social justice, crime and transport policy (end of split B); North Rhine-Westphalia can cope with many refugees; party that best represents a policy in the personal sense concerning refugees and asylum as well as school and education policy; opinion on the future viability of the federal state; most competent party for solving future problems of the federal state; assessment of the work of Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft; Chancellor Angela Merkel helpful or harmful for the CDU´s performance in the state election; SPD candidate for chancellor Martin Schulz helpful or harmful for the SPD´s performance in the state parliamentary election; voting for AfD on the basis of political demands of AfD or as a lesson for the other parties; intention to vote AfD in the state parliamentary elections on the basis of political demands of AfD or as a lesson for the other parties; sufficient separation of AfD from right-wing extremist contents and members; opinion on selected statements on politics in North Rhine-Westphalia (SPD has done far too little for security and order in the federal state, outcome of the state election says nothing about the outcome of the next federal election); expected winner of the state election; time for another state government; fair share of living standards.

Demography: sex; age (classified); marital status; cohabitation with a partner; highest school leaving certificate or desired school leaving certificate; university degree; completed vocational training; occupation; assessment of own job security; occupational status; household size; number of persons aged 18 and over in the household; trade union member in the household; denomination; frequency of church attendance; party affiliation; party identification; number of telephone numbers in the household; city size.

Additionally coded was: questionnaire number; weighting factor.

Various questions were asked only half of the respondents. A forked questionnaire was used.