States Study Autumn 1974

Political attitudes before the state parliament elections 1974 in the
states Schleswig-Holstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, North
Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Hesse. Judgement on parties and
politicians.

The questionnaire consists of a nationally uniform part and a
state-specific part.

Topics: 1. nationally uniform part: judgement on the economic
situation and assumed economic development; extent to which politically
informed and political interest; attitude to tax reform; spectrum of
parties voted for by respondent in Federal Parliament elections since
1949; behavior at the polls in the Federal Parliament election 1972;
personal change in party voted for; party preference and party ties;
preferred federal chancellor; judgement on the government
Schmidt/Genscher as well as the relationship of the FDP to the SPD;
party inclination (split); changes of party sympathies in the course of
time; most important political tasks in the FRG; preferred CDU/CSU
politicians in leading positions; issue ability of the parties and
selected politicians; sympathy scale for the SPD, CDU/CSU and the FDP;
judgement on the Young Union as well as the Jusos {Young Socialists};
assessment of personal political location on the question of price
stability and securing jobs as well as assumed attitudes of top
politicians and parties; judgement on current foreign policy relations
and their significance for the future; parties one cannot vote for;
assessment of changes within a party since 1969; assumed identity of
interests of the parties represented in the Federal Parliament;
attitude to rejection of draft laws by the CDU/CSU majority in the
Federal Upper House; judgement on Schmidt as federal chancellor
(scale).

2a. State-specific part: judgement on the economic situation of the
state; degree of familiarity of state politicians; knowledge about the
party affiliation of selected politicians; preferred prime minister;
profiles of characteristics of the prime minister candidates; most
important state political goals; party preference at state level
(ballot procedure); behavior at the polls in the last state parliament
election; preferred government coalition; sympathy scale for the
parties at state level.

2b. In Lower Saxony (as follow-up survey after the state parliament
election had taken place): assessment of the economic situation and
economic development; personal election participation and behavior at
the polls in the last state parliament election; time of voting
decision; satisfaction with the prime minister and the election result;
election result corresponding to one´s own expectation; preferred
government coalition; judgement on the election campaign; assessment of
state or national political character of the state parliament election;
expected influence of the change of federal chancellor on this
election; knowledge about the counting error in the state parliament
election; assumed reasons for this error; assumed party influence on
this counting error; attitude to a new election and presumed change of
personal behavior at the polls in this case; party preference (ballot
procedure); sympathy changes regarding selected politicians and parties
since the last state parliament election.

3. To all: knowledge of lay-offs in one´s own economic area;
probability of loss of job next year regarding respondent as well as a
member of the household; possession of a telephone.

Demography: age; sex; marital status; religious denomination;
frequency of church attendance; school education; occupational
position; employment; household income; household composition;
respondent is head of household; characteristics of head of household;
self-assessment of social class; city size; state; union membership;

Interviewer rating: length of interview; day of interview; interest of
respondent in interview; number of contact attempts.