State Election in Bavaria 2013

Assessment of parties and politicians. Attitude to political questions and issues of the day.

Topics: Most important political issues in Bavaria; intention to vote in the state election; intended type of voting (polling station or postal vote); party preference (first and second vote); timing and certainty of one´s own voting decision; importance of federal politics for one´s own voting decision at the state level; interest in the state election; voting behaviour in the last state election; attitude towards a sole government of the CSU; expected election victory of the CSU; coalition preference; attitude towards a coalition of CSU and FDP, of CSU and Free Voters as well as of SPD, Greens and Free Voters; presumed coalition preference of the Free Voters (CSU or SPD and Greens); sympathy scalometer for selected parties at federal and state level; satisfaction with the performance of the state government in Bavaria consisting of CSU and FDP, the respective performance of CSU and FDP in the state government, the performance of SPD, Greens and Free Voters in opposition, as well as the performance of the federal government consisting of CDU/CSU and FDP (scalometer); knowledge of the respective top candidates of the CSU and SPD for the office of Prime Minister; sympathy scalometer for selected top politicians (Hubert Aiwanger, Margarete Bause, Angela Merkel, Horst Seehofer, Peer Steinbrück, Christian Ude and Martin Zeil - scalometer); party most or second most liked; interest in politics; preference for Horst Seehofer or Christian Ude as prime minister; split A: comparison of credibility, likeability, expertise, closeness to the people and better suitability for the federal state of the two top politicians (end of split A); assessment of own economic situation, the economic situation of the federal state in general and in comparison to the other western German federal states; split B: Most competent party to solve economic problems in Bavaria, in the area of job creation, school and education policy, family policy, social justice, energy policy, transport policy as well as to solve future problems of the federal state; opinion on the future viability of the federal state (end of Split B); assessment of the work of Prime minister Horst Seehofer; attitude towards political issues in Bavaria: Opinion on G-9 in addition to the eight-year Gymnasium period; opinion on childcare allowance for parents who do not claim a KITA place for their children under three years of age; party most involved in scandals, affairs and filth in Bavaria; expected introduction of car toll after a CDU/CSU election victory in the federal government; attitude to a car toll; importance of Chancellor Angela Merkel for the CSU´s performance in the state election, resp. Peer Steinbrück as SPD candidate for chancellor for the SPD´s performance in the state election (helpful, detrimental or does not play a major role); Split A: Outcome of state election says nothing about outcome of next federal election; SPD does not suit Bavaria; FDP is not needed in Bavaria; good economy in Bavaria due to CSU policies (end of Split A); expected winner of state election; attitude towards a sole government of the CSU (question repeated with extended answer category); attitude towards a government participation of the FDP; expected entry of the FDP into the Bavarian Parliament (5% hurdle); expected failure of the FDP in the Federal Parliament Election after a missed entry into the Bavarian Parliament.

Demography: age (classified); marital status; living with a partner; school education; higher education; vocational training; occupation; assessment of own job security; occupational status; household size; number of persons in the household aged 18 and over; trade union member in the household; religious denomination; churchgoing frequency; party affiliation; party identification; number of telephone numbers in the household; sex; eligibility to vote in Bavaria; city size.

Additionally coded were: Interview date; questionnaire number; total vote: first and second vote; weighting factor.

For various questions (politician profile and competences) a bifurcated questionnaire was used (split: only asked to half of the respondents in each case).