Politbarometer West 1991 (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 Germany; satisfaction with
democracy; party preference (Sunday question and rank order procedure);
right politicians in leading positions; coalition preference in case of
new elections; most important politicians in the Federal Republic;
behavior at the polls in the last Federal Parliament election; sympathy
scale for the parties, coalition, opposition, selected federal
politicians, Gorbachev, Bush, Adenauer, Erhard, Honecker, Ulbricht as
well as for the respective state government and the Federal Railway;
preference for chancellor; judgement on the support of the respective
party rank and file for Kohl and Engholm; support of the coalition by
CSU and FDP; expected coalition change as well as statement of
willingness to form a coalition by the FDP in the next Federal
Parliament election; assessment of the unity or disagreement of the
SPD, CDU, CSU, FDP and Greens; the significance of parliamentary
decisions on municipal, state, federal and European level; judgement on
the economic situation in the old Federal Republic as well as in the
former GDR and assumed further development; personal economic situation
and expected development; ability of the government or opposition to
alleviate the economic problems in Eastern Germany; attitude to an
increase in the tax for German unity; German unity or Gulf War as major
reason for the tax increases agreed upon; income tax increase justified
through the solidarity tax and judgement on the petroleum tax increase;
possession of vehicle in household and use of vehicle on the way to
work; eligibility of a car driver party; forseeable financial need for
the new states; justified accusation of an election lie against the
governing parties; judgement on the unification process; equity of the
wage differential between Eastern and Western Germany; justified
dissatisfaction of the East Germans with improvement in their living
conditions and adequate effort of the Federal Government for an
equalization; willingness to sacrifice some income for improvement in
living conditions in Eastern Germany; attitude to acceptance of
international responsibility for resolution of conflict by united
Germany; judgement on the work of the trust-company; perceived danger
from SED functionaries in important social and economic positions;
assessment of the influence of former block-party politicians on the
current development of the CDU in the East; judgement on criminal
prosecution of STASI employees and earlier representatives of the
former GDR; attitude to extradition and strict punishment of Honecker;
attitude to cooperation of government and opposition to solve the
problems in the East; general judgement on the constitution and
attitude to a comprehensive revision; attitude to help for the Soviet
Union and independence of the Baltic republics; Serbs or Croats as
primarily to blame for the violent conflicts in Yugoslavia; approval of
national independence for Slovenia and Croatia; approval of a
suspension of economic aid for Yugoslavia and deployment of UN or FRG
troops in Yugoslavia; judgement on the elimination of the visa
requirement for Polish citizens; attitude to the Nobel Prize for
Gorbachev and expected effects of his overthrow; attitude to suspension
of economic aid for the Soviet Union; security of peace in Europe;
expected withdrawal of the Soviet soldiers from Eastern Germany and
assessment of the danger to Germany from a permanent stationing;
reasons for the jeopardy to peace in Europe; attitude to intervention
by allied military forces on the Gulf; the one primarily to blame for
the Gulf War; personal fear due to the Gulf War; perceived share of
blame for Germans or German companies in the war; expected
war-profiteer; attitude to the use of German soldiers in Turkey;
attitude to an ammendment to the constitution to make possible the
deployment of Federal German Armed Forces outside of the NATO area;
attitude to a direct participation by the Federal German Armed Forces
in the Gulf war and to participation in removing mines; ammendment to
the constitution also in case of a military UN mission; agreement with
an increased participation of the Federal Republic in the cost of the
Gulf War; attitude to a limitation of deliveries of German weapons to
foreign countries, even at the risk of loss of jobs; attitude to
delivery of German defensive missiles to Israel; personal agreement
with the stand of the Federal Government or SPD on the Gulf War;
judgement on allied criticism of Germany´s cautiousness in the Gulf
War; assessment of German-American relations; judgement on the
drammatic increase in conscientious objectors; judgement on German aid
to the Kurds and allied troop deployment in the north of Irak;
preference for the seat of government in the short and long term;
preferred seat for the Federal Parliament and attitude to division of
ministries between Berlin and Bonn; judgement on the decision for
Berlin; preferred abortion regulation and importance of such a
regulation in one´s own view; party representing one´s own interests on
the abortion question; attitude to uninterrupted employment of women;
self-classification on a left-right continuum; judgement on the CDU
losses in the state parliament election in Rhineland-Palatinate;
vacation in summer; country visited on vacation; trip to Eastern
Germany after opening of the borders; relatives and friends in Eastern
Germany; attitude to foreigners in Germany; government or opposition as
representative of one´s own policies on foreigners; judgement on the
right to asylum and assessment of abuse of the right to asylum;
attitude to a change of the constitution to prevent abuse; attitude to
shortening of the asylum hearing and to housing applicants for asylum
in communal housing; attitude to establishment of communal housing
close by; contact with foreigners; benefit of foreign workers for the
economy; foreigners as cultural enrichment or danger; right-wing
radicalism as important problem; judgement on right-wing radical
activities in Eastern and Western Germany as well as assessment of
extent of media reporting about right-wing radicalism; attitude to
limitation of applicants for political asylum and deporting rejected
applicants to their native country; typical characteristics of East
Germans and West Germans (autostereotype, heterostereotype and assumed
heterostereotype); interest in politics; joy at unification of the two
German states; attitude to further operation and new construction of
nuclear power plants; attitude to government subsidy for coal mining
and an independent supply of hard coal; attitude to introduction of a
common currency in Europe; judgement on the jeopardy from AIDS and
attitude to an obligatory AIDS test; attitude to privatization of the
Federal Railway; preference for the use of civil servants or employees
by the Federal Railroad; judgement on the work of the Federal
Government in the last year; personal retrospect on the last year and
prospect for the new year; general contentment with life; personal
preferences for use of a gift of a large sum of money; religiousness;
party inclination and party identification; union membership; completed
journeymen´s test, government examination or university diploma;
personal job security and jeopardy to the jobs of friends and
relatives.

Also encoded was: date of interview.