Leadership in the Federal Republic of Germany (Mannheim Elite Study 1981)

The attitude of elites to current political questions as well as to
fundamental problems of democracy and the ability to function and
development of the West German political system. Personal possibilities
to exert political influence.

Topics: most important problems of the FRG; judgement on the
importance of political goals; attitude to selected topics of domestic
and foreign policy, such as e.g. comprehensive school, ecology and
competitive ability, foreign aid, EC sovereignty, government controls
of the primary industry and banks, dismantling of social services,
extremist decree, co-determination and radio station under civil law;
judgement on the policies to reduce tension and Soviet foreign policy;
assessment of the possibility and achievability of reductions in
government expenditures; attitude to nuclear energy and perceived
alternative energy sources to cover energy need; assessment of the
significance of a transfer of power from the legislature to the
executive; perceived reduction of governability of western democracies,
desirability of more direct citizen involvement in management decisions
at municipal level; media and broadcasts with presumably the greatest
influence on political opinion making of the public (scale); assessment
of the greatest influence factor on political opinion making of an
individual; political problem with which the respondent was most
involved the past year; detailed determination of the most important
conversation partners and their organization affiliation; type and
extent of influence of special interest groups on personal conduct;
attempts at personal influence on public opinion making by use of
media; naming of the major personal political area of activity; type of
one´s own contacts with institutions of the EC, supranational
institutions and federal German associations and organizations or
political institutions; exact recording of the type of contacts;
detailed information on course of professional career; memberships and
positions held in associations; membership in a political advisory
committee or a scientific council of the Federal Government or of a
Federal Ministry; party membership and party preference; sympathy scale
for the CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP and the Greens; self-assessment on a
left-right continuum; preferred government coalition; assessment of the
significance of religious upbringing in parental home; religiousness.

Scales: understanding of democracy and dogmatism; postmaterialism
(short scale).

Interviewer rating: date of interview; length of interview;
willingness of respondent to cooperate; number and length of
interruptions; judgement on interview atmosphere.

Also encoded were: sex of interviewer and age of interviewer.