Politbarometer 1989 (Cumulated Data Set)

The Politbarometer has been conducted since 1977 on an almost monthly basis by the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen on behalf of the Second German Television (ZDF). Since 1990, this database has also been available for the new German states. The survey focuses on the opinions and attitudes of the voting-age population in the Federal Republic on current political issues, parties, politicians, and voting behavior. From 1990 to 1995 and from 1999 onward, the Politbarometer surveys were conducted separately both in the newly formed eastern and in the western German states (Politbarometer East and Politbarometer West). The separate monthly surveys of a year are integrated into a cumulative data set that includes all surveys of a year and all variables of the respective year. Starting in 2003, the Politbarometer short surveys, collected with varying frequency throughout the year, are integrated into the annual cumulation.<br>Most important problems in the Federal Republic; satisfaction
with democracy; the right people in leading positions; behavior at the
polls in the last Federal Parliament election and party preference
(Sunday question and rank order procedure); party inclination and party
identification; expected winner in the Federal Parliament election
1990; coalition preferences; preference for federal chancellor;
preferred top candidate of the SPD; desired secretary-general of the
CDU; sympathy scale for selected top politicians in the Federal
Republic and in the GDR; most important politicians; attitude to
re-election of von Weizsaecker; judgement on health care reform and
participation in the costs of medications; judgement on the effects of
the petroleum tax increase; attitude to a reduction in low-altitude
flights in the Federal Republic; assessment of the security of peace in
Europe and feeling of threat from the Warsaw Pact; attitude to
modernization of the Western nuclear weapons or securing of peace by
doing without nuclear weapons; preferred action of the West in
disarmament negotiations and judgement on the disarmament measures of
the Soviet Union; attitude to modernization of short-range nuclear
missiles and to disarmament negotiations; preference for West German or
American attitudes in important political questions; attitude to NATO
and American troop withdrawal; judgement on German-American relations
and their change since assumption of office by George Bush; judgement
on the relation to the Soviet Union and understanding for the concerns
of the western alliance partners regarding the reliability of the
Federal Republic; attitude to applicants for political asylum and
ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe; judgement on the right to asylum
and attitude to a limitation of the number of asylum-seekers; attitude
to the right to vote for foreigners and to easier acquisition of German
citizenship; contacts with foreigners at work; expected election winner
in Berlin; interest in the European Election; expected conduct of the
Republicans in the EC parliament; classification of the Republicans as
right-wing radical and knowledge of Republican voters; attitude to
election success by the Republicans as a warning for the established
parties; assessment of the Republicans as new Nazis; EC membership as
advantage for the Federal Republic; assessment of the significance of
parliament decisions at municipal, state, federal and European level;
judgement on the monitoring of food quality in the Federal Republic and
assumed changes of the quality of controls after European
standardization; attitude to radioactive radiation treatment of food to
increase shelf-life and feared harm to health; attitude to reduction in
working hours to a 35-hour work week; job worries; assessment of the
loyalty to the chancellor of the CDU, loyalty to the coalition of the
CSU and of the FDP; attitude to a nation-wide CSU; danger of communism;
attitude to admission of Eastern European nations into the EC and
countries preferred for this; attitude to credits for Poland and to the
Oder-Neisse Line; attitude to unification of the two German nations and
to the 10-point plan of the government; judgement on the reform demands
for the GDR as West German intervention in the matters of the GDR;
judgement on the number of GDR refugees and relief for emigrants;
understanding for emmigration; feared disadvantages for jobs and
housing from emigrants; recognition of citizens of the GDR as Germans;
judgement on the reunification of the two German nations; attitude to
financial aid for the GDR and tying this aid to more extensive reforms;
judgement on media reporting on the GDR; interest in a visit to the
GDR; relatives in the GDR; visit to the GDR dependent on lifting of the
visa requirement and forced currency exchange; attitude to abortion and
to the abortion law ruling; judgement on CDU policies regarding
questionsof ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe, asylum-seekers,
abortion and reunification; self-classification on a left-right
continuum; judgement on the general economic situation and one´s own as
well as on further development; assessment of the ability of a Federal
Government led by the CDU or the SPD in questions of the economy,
unemployment, environmental protection, pensions, the public health
system and tax policies; attitude to a cabinet re-organization and to
health care reform; personal impact of reform of the public health
system; attitude to moving imprisoned terrorists together; interest in
sports; attitude to intensification of drug tests and judgement on the
disallowing of the gold medal for Ben Johnson in the Olympics; attitude
to the business hours on long Thursday; summer vacation and judgement
on the vacation; attitude to reduction of time in school at high
schools to 12 years; own school-age children; living together with a
partner; religiousness; union membership.