Thüringen-Monitor 2000-2023

The Thüringen-Monitor is a representative population survey on political culture in the Free State of Thuringia that has been held annually since 2000. It contains fixed and changing questions. The Thuringia Monitor is commissioned by the Thuringian State Chancellery (Erfurt). A particular focus is on research into right-wing extremist attitudes, acceptance of democracy, satisfaction with democracy and the institutional trust of the Thuringian population. The basic population is the electorate of the Free State of Thuringia. By 2022, a total of 22 survey waves with at least 1,000 respondents each were carried out in the trend design by changing survey institutes (CATI, random sampling according to the Gabler-Häder design). No survey took place in 2009. From 2012, the data were weighted according to the Thuringian State Statistical Office with regard to age, gender, education and household size (IPF weighting).

From 2000 to 2022, a total of 1,362 different variables were collected in the Thüringen-Monitor, which can be assigned to the following categories:

1 Deprivation/Anomy/Satisfaction
2 Thuringia/Identity/German Unity
3 Politics/Democracy/Institutions/Actors
4 Right-wing extremism/attitude towards migration/minorities
5 GDR/Socialism
6 Social State/Market Economy/Ecology
7 Social problems
8 Values
9 Family/education and education/generational relations
10 Internationalization/Europeanization/Cultural Competence
11 Health and care
12 Covid-19 Pandemic
13 City and country
14 Environment and climate
15 Transformation of the working world

The series of measurements on right-wing extremist attitudes is based on ten consent items (with four-step response scales) and begins in 2001. According to the consensus definition of right-wing extremism, it covers the following attitudinal dimensions: xenophobia, nationalism/chauvinism, social Darwinism, trivialisation of National Socialism, anti-Semitism and advocacy of a right-wing dictatorship (vgl. Heinrich Best / Katja Salomo (2014): Güte und Reichweite der Messung des Rechtsextremismus im THÜRINGEN-MONITOR 2000 bis 2014. Expertise für die Thüringer Staatskanzlei. Erfurt.)<br>Sociodemography: age (year of birth); sex; occupational status; length of unemployment (in months); unemployment longer than six months since the fall of communism; employment in the public sector; occupation; main occupation; highest educational attainment of respondent; highest educational attainment of parents; education of partner; activity of partner; GDR citizen before October 1989; number of grandchildren; marital status; place of birth; net household income; household composition: number of children under 18 (2000: under 16) years of age in the household; number of persons in the household as a whole; number of persons in the household from 18 years of age; household size (grouped); number of children outside the household; children currently attending day-care centre, school, (technical) college; number of own children in total; number of desired children; number of children in school; number of children under 6 years of age; frequency of church attendance; fixed partnership; living together with partner; denomination; housing situation; job security; socialisation (East/West / abroad); residential status; number of telephone numbers in the household.

Additionally coded was: Wave (survey year); interview number; person weight; quota groups gender and age for IPF weighting from 2012 onwards; random variables (2013, 2014); answer open question and question order (2015); average population share district 2005 to 2009; consistency of freedom; class of location; residence size; perceived responsivity of other public right-wing extremist activities (share of district in total number of Thuringia and number of incidents in district); suspected right-wing extremist crimes (share of district in total number of Thuringia and number of incidents in district).

Wave 2000:

Agreement with various statements: Thuringia need not shy away from comparison with many West German states; the economic situation in Thuringia is better than in other East German states; identity as a Thuringian, as an East German, as a German or as a European; assessment of the economic situation in Thuringia and of one´s own financial situation; fair share of standard of living compared with others in Germany; preponderance of advantages or disadvantages of German unification; personally experienced disadvantage due to East German origin; preference for freedom vs. equality or freedom vs. security.

Politics and society: left-right self-ranking; interest in politics; democracy as the best of all state ideas; satisfaction with democracy; trust in institutions (federal government, state government, courts, police, doctors, nurses); overfamiliarity with many foreigners; can understand and assess political issues well; agreement with various statements: foreigners only come here to exploit our welfare state; there are valuable and unvaluable lives; foreigners should in principle choose their spouses from among their own countrymen; our country needs tough and vigorous enforcement of German interests against foreign countries; in the national interest, a dictatorship is the better form of government in certain circumstances; people like me have no influence on what the government does (political efficacy); parties only want the votes of the electorate, they are not interested in their views; today everything is changing so fast that I often don´t know what to stick to (anomie); fear of crime; fear of descent; satisfaction with life; some groups of people are simply superior to others; in order to get ahead in life one has to override others; desire for a return to the socialist order; Jews today try to take advantage of the fact that they were the victims during the Nazi era; open up more to the values and standards of other cultures in the future; most refugees and asylum seekers cannot be integrated into Germany at all because of their culture; immigrants should be allowed to retain their lifestyle; women should once again focus more on the role of wife and mother; associations associated with the concept of home; importance of home; attachment to the community, to the region, to Thuringia, to Germany and to Europe; Region; importance of various aspects for an identity as a Thuringian (being born in Thuringia, having at least one Thuringian parent, feeling Thuringian, participating in political life in Thuringia, having grown up in Thuringia, having lived in Thuringia for a long time, speaking one of the Thuringian dialects, maintaining Thuringian traditions); assessment of the environment with regard to: Job prospects, educational opportunities, leisure and cultural opportunities, environmental conditions, living conditions, shopping opportunities, local public transport, provision of doctors and care facilities, accessibility of authorities, childcare facilities and schools, internet access, public safety; willingness to deal with official matters via the internet; future of own region; Saving the environment only with less consumption; priority for economic growth, unless the environment is damaged in the process; to protect the environment, people should do without their own cars; opinion on measures in the course of a climate-friendly energy policy; generally for or against recruiting workers abroad in a targeted manner; assessment of people of different origins, religions and cultures living together in Thuringia; Personal contact with refugees or asylum seekers; feelings when meeting refugees in person; feeling disturbed by the building of mosques in the neighbourhood; feeling disturbed when Muslim women wear headscarves in public; party affiliation; strength of party affiliation; political participation: approaching a politician, taking part in a signature campaign, working in a political party or citizens´ initiative, fighting for one´s own goals, even with the use of violence; willingness to do voluntary work; being overly alienated by the many foreigners in Thuringia; with the policies that Israel is pursuing, I can well understand that people have something against Jews; most unemployed people make a nice life for themselves at the expense of others; in these times we absolutely need a strong hand; demand obedience and discipline from one´s own children to raise them to be decent citizens; attitude towards Muslims (most Muslims accept our values laid down in the Basic Law, make too many demands, Muslims should be banned from immigrating to Germany); the state should be generous when examining asylum applications; National Socialism also had its good sides; German achievements greater than those of other peoples; right of the strongest also in society; most asylum seekers do not really fear persecution in their home country; in our democracy people´s concerns are no longer effectively represented; more should be done for the majority in the country than worrying about minorities; we should think more about our traditions again; West Germans treat East Germans as second-class people; GDR had more good sides than bad; Jews have something special and peculiar about them and don´t really fit in; social cohesion in Germany is endangered; repatriation of all refugees and asylum seekers to their home countries as soon as war and persecution have ended; compulsory participation in integration and language courses for all refugees and asylum seekers; those who have lived here all their lives should have more rights than those who moved here later; living environment overly alienated by the many foreigners.

Demography: age (year of birth); marital status; occupation; socialisation east/west; occupational status; employment in public service; job security; education; household size; total number of children; number of children under 18; religious community; migration background; moving to Thuringia from another federal state or from abroad; intention to move away; net income.

Wave 2019:

Health: satisfaction with medical care in Germany and in Thuringia; satisfaction with health insurance services; satisfaction with health care in the immediate vicinity with regard to: GPs, specialists, accessibility of the nearest hospital, provision of psychotherapists, pharmacies, outpatient nursing services, health advice facilities, provision of midwives and birthing centres, waiting time for an appointment with specialists; gaps in provision or other problems in the area of health care (open); opinion on the job description of care assistants in GP practices; assessment of the personal financial burden of medical treatment and medication; assessment of measures to maintain and promote health in one´s own workplace; attitude towards organ donation; blood donors.

Care: assessment of the personal financial burden of care; assessment of the time burden, the health burden as well as the burden on one´s occupation due to care tasks; acceptance of senior housing community or multi-generation house as a possibility of living in old age; willingness to move into an age-appropriate flat.

Health policy measures: Importance of various health policy measures (attracting family doctors to rural areas, setting up medical health centres, recruiting nursing and health professionals from abroad, expanding medical school places, promoting medical care and advice via the internet (video consultation hours), promoting mobile medical practices in rural areas and expanding offers for preventing illness and maintaining health; for vs. against recruiting care workers from abroad; support for higher salaries for care workers; agreement with the demand for all citizens, i.e. also civil servants and self-employed, to be insured in the statutory health insurance funds.

Demography: member of a statutory health insurance fund or privately insured; chronic illness or disability; own need for care (care degree); occupation; completed vocational training; highest educational attainment of parents.

Wave 2020:

Corona crisis: Personally affected by Corona resp. relatives, friends or close acquaintances; demand harsher punishments for people who do not comply with Corona measures; to protect the population from the Corona virus, basic rights must also be restricted if necessary; should be grateful for leaders who tell us how to deal with the Corona crisis; danger from the Corona virus is greatly exaggerated by the media; existence of secret organisations that have great influence on political decisions during the Corona crisis; uncertainty due to changing assessments by experts; Corona virus no worse than flu; Trust own feelings in dealing with Corona more than experts; in dealing with the Corona crisis, the opposition should not criticise the government but support it; assessment of the danger posed by the Corona crisis with regard to the health system, social cohesion, the economy, basic democratic rights, one´s own health and personal economic situation; willingness to be vaccinated; assessment of various measures to contain the Corona pandemic (restriction of personal contacts, compulsory wearing of masks, closure of schools and day-care centres, closure of shops and restaurants; too few vs. too many measures taken by politicians with regard to the following: medical care, restriction of public life, reduction of economic damage; personally most important (open) for coping with the Corona crisis; satisfaction with public communication by politicians during the Corona crisis; changes in personal life during the Corona crisis with regard to family life, personal economic situation, and social contacts; satisfaction with previous policies during the Corona crisis at the federal, district/city, and state level; trust in science; important decisions in a democracy should better be made by independent experts than by elected politicians; it is time for more resistance against current policies.

Wave 2021:

Corona crisis: Evaluation of the Corona policy of the federal government, the state government, the municipality; perception of dangers posed by the Corona crisis for social cohesion, for basic democratic rights, for one´s own health, for one´s personal economic situation as well as for the educational opportunities of young people; danger posed by the Corona virus is greatly exaggerated by the media; existence of secret organisations that have great influence on political decisions during the Corona crisis; Corona virus no worse than flu; trust own feelings more than experts when dealing with Corona; government has deliberately put population in fear in order to be able to enforce massive restrictions on basic rights; measures to contain the pandemic are greatly exaggerated; politicians are doing enough to explain measures; must be careful not to slide into dictatorship; those who compare Corona restrictions with Nazi period ridicule real victims of Nazi dictatorship; personally affected by Corona in terms of health; willing to take part in a protest demonstration against Corona measures.

Understanding of democracy: most important feature of democracy; assessment of relevance of different features of democracy: equality before the law; state cares for the weak; equal life chances for all; freedom of expression; free and secret elections; strong opposition; minority rights; politicians align policies with citizens´ wishes; politicians inform themselves about citizens´ wishes; politicians explain decisions; equal rights for all who live permanently in the country; MPs should be mirrors of society; close dialogue between politics and citizens; active participation of citizens.

Wave 2022:

Thuringia need not fear comparison with many West German federal states; economic situation in Thuringia is better than in other East German federal states; assessment of economic situation in Thuringia and own financial situation; fair share of standard of living compared with others in Germany; predominance of advantages or disadvantages of German unification; personally experienced disadvantage due to East German origin; interest in politics; democracy is the best of all state ideas; satisfaction with democracy; trust in institutions (federal government, state government, courts, mayors in Thuringia, agreement with various statements: Over-alienation of the Federal Republic by the many foreigners; the foreigners only come here to take advantage of our welfare state; there is valuable and unvaluable life; foreigners should in principle choose their spouses from among their own compatriots; our country needs a tough and vigorous enforcement of German interests vis-à-vis foreign countries; in the national interest, under certain circumstances, a dictatorship is the better form of government; people like me have no influence either way on what the government does (political efficacy); parties only want the votes of the electorate, they are not interested in their views; today everything changes so fast that I often don´t know what to adhere to (anomie); fear of crime; fear of descent; life satisfaction; some groups of people are simply superior to others; in order to get ahead in life, one must override others; desire for a return to the socialist order; feminism systematically disadvantages men in our society; the people should make the most important decisions and not the politicians; politicians are always in agreement when it comes to protecting their privileges; the government deliberately frightened the population in the Corona crisis in order to be able to impose massive restrictions on fundamental rights.

Town and country: associations with the terms town and country (open); characterisation of one´s own town or municipality on the basis of pairs of opposites (rural/ urban, traditional/ modern, anonymous/ socially networked, remote/ central, family unfriendly/ family friendly, quiet/ lively, not an attractive place to live/ an attractive place to live); attachment to the town or municipality, the region and to Thuringia; satisfaction with the place of residence with regard to the following aspects: mobile data provision, local public transport, emergency care and provision of GPs; accessibility of: Shopping facilities for everyday needs, specialist doctor, cultural and leisure facilities, childcare facilities and schools as well as offers of care services; satisfaction with the help among neighbours and acquaintances, the activity of associations and the willingness to do voluntary work; assessment of the development of the town/municipality in the last 10 to 15 years; Assessment of the economic situation of the town or municipality compared to the rest of Thuringia and compared to the rest of Germany; expected future development of the town or municipality; perception of problems for the town or municipality due to out-migration of young people, lack of skilled workers among young people and availability of affordable housing; opinion on state politics and the people in the rest of Thuringia (the politicians in Erfurt have done too little to improve the economic situation in my region, the people in the rest of Thuringia do not understand and respect how the people in my region live, the politicians in Erfurt are not interested in the region I live in); opinion about federal politics and about the people in the rest of Germany (the politicians in Berlin have done too little to improve the economic situation in my region, the people in the rest of Germany do not understand and respect how the people in my region live, the politicians in Berlin are not interested in the region where I live); agreement with new renewable energy plants in the residential area; sufficient consideration of citizens´ concerns when building renewable energy plants.

Party affiliation; political participation (participation in a signature collection, participation in a political party, participation in an authorized or an an unauthorized demonstration, political violence); volunteer work; regular participation in federal elections; agreement with various statements: with the policies Israel is making, I can well understand having something against Jews; it worries me to get more and more on the losing side of life due to social development; in these times we absolutely need a strong hand; whoever wants to raise his children to be decent citizens must demand obedience and discipline from them above all; most Muslims living in Germany accept our values as they are laid down in the Basic Law; National Socialism also had its good sides; other peoples may have accomplished important things, but they do not come close to German achievements; as in nature, the strongest should always prevail in society; politicians generally strive to represent the interests of the people; the ruling and powerful act against the interests of the ordinary people; it is time to show more resistance to current politics; we should think more about our traditions again; West Germans treat East Germans as second-class people; the GDR had more good sides than bad; the Jews have something special and peculiar about them and don´t really fit in with us; the citizens in Germany agree in principle about what must happen politically; what is called compromise in politics is really just a betrayal of principles; there is always talk only about the persecution of the Jews, how the Germans suffered, nobody talks about that; the ruling elites are pursuing the goal of replacing the German people with immigrants; the Western world has conspired against Russia and Putin in order to expand its own power; my living environment has been dangerously alienated by the many foreigners; nowadays, one cannot express one´s opinion freely because otherwise one could be at a disadvantage.

Demography: age (year of birth); sex; marital status; occupation; socialization; length of residence in the place of residence; occupation; job security; financial worries due to higher cost of living as a result of inflation; education: highest school-leaving qualification; highest vocational qualification; household size; number of children in the household; own children outside the household; religious community; size of place; net household income.