Quick Survey on the Federal Parliament Election 2021

The Quick Survey on the Federal Parliament Election 2021 was conducted by the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen. During the survey period from 20.09.2021 to 24.09.2021, 1713 eligible voters in Germany were interviewed by telephone (CATI) on the following topics: Political opinion: parties, top candidates, problems and competencies, electoral decision in the context of candidate preference and party competence. Respondents were selected by a multistage random sample including landline and mobile phone numbers (dual frame sample).<br>Most important political issues in Germany; intention to vote in the Federal Parliament election; intended type of election (polling station or absentee ballot); party preference (first and second vote); timing and certainty of own voting decision; interest in the Federal Parliament election; voting behavior in the last Federal Parliament election; coalition preference; government preference (Split A: Government of SPD and CDU/CSU led by SPD, of CDU/CSU and SPD led by CDU/CSU, of CDU/CSU, SPD and FDP led by CDU/CSU (end of Split A), Split B: Government of SPD and Greens led by SPD, of SPD, Greens and FDP led by SPD, of SPD, Greens and Left led by SPD, and government of CDU/CSU, Greens and FDP led by CDU/CSU (end of Split B); sympathy scalometer for selected parties; satisfaction with federal government performance of CDU/CSU and SPD and respective performance of CDU/CSU and SPD in government; likability scalometer for selected top politicians (Annalena Baerbock, Robert Habeck, Armin Laschet, Christian Lindner, Angela Merkel, Olaf Scholz and Markus Söder); parties liked best (ranking); suitability of Armin Laschet, Olaf Scholz and Annalena Baerbock for the office of Chancellor; Chancellor preference; politician profile and competencies: comparison of the two candidates for chancellor, Armin Laschet, Olaf Scholz and Annalena Baerbock, in terms of credibility, likeability, expertise, problem-solving competence with regard to Germany´s future problems; interest in politics; assessment of the work of Chancellor Angela Merkel; Split A: assessment of the current economic situation in Germany; assessment of own economic situation and expected future economic situation; party competence: Most competent party to solve Germany´s economic problems and in the areas of job creation, school and education policy, foreign policy and tax policy; opinion on Germany´s future viability; most competent party to solve Germany´s future problems (end of Split A); Split B: most competent party in the areas of climate protection, refugees and asylum, pension security, social justice and corona policy (end of Split B); Split A: better election result in the Federal Parliament election for the CDU/CSU with Markus Söder than with Armin Laschet and for the Greens with Robert Habeck than with Annalena Baerbock (end of Split A); Split B: Role of Armin Laschet in the CDU/CSU´s performance in the Federal Parliament election, of Olaf Scholz in the SPD´s performance in the Federal Parliament election, and of Annalena Baerbock in the Greens´ performance in the Federal Parliament election; importance of various issues for personal voting decisions in the Federal Parliament election (climate protection, Corona, refugees and asylum, social justice, pensions and old-age security - end of Split B); evaluation of current Corona measures; fewer restrictions in the future for the fully vaccinated and recovered than for the non-vaccinated; extent to which politicians take into account the interests of foreigners living in Germany; Split A: Assessment of the commitment of policy makers in Germany to climate protection; support for greater taxation of high incomes (end of Split A); Split B: Development of differences between rich and poor in Germany in recent years; preference for tax cuts vs. tax increases in view of the current economic and financial situation (end of Split B); opinion on the political course of the CDU with regard to traditional conservative content; desired and expected coalition partners of the SPD after the Federal Parliament election (Greens and Left or Greens and FDP); FDP´s desired and expected coalition partners after the federal election (CDU/CSU and Greens or SPD and Greens); support for the demand that the other parties refuse to cooperate with the AfD; preference for a federal government led by the CDU/CSU or a federal government led by the SPD; agreement with various statements about politics in Germany (Split B: Armin Laschet would be more successful if he had aligned himself more closely with Angela Merkel and her policies; East Germans are treated like second-class citizens; none of the three candidates for chancellor will be able to fill the gap left by Angela Merkel in the foreseeable future (end of Split B); Split A: If Olaf Scholz is successful, it is mainly because he most closely embodies Angela Merkel´s political style, a federal government of SPD, Greens and Left would endanger Germany´s economic strength, AfD is the only party that calls important problems by their names; outcome of Federal Parliament election already clear today; expected winner of Federal Parliament election (end Split A); fair share of standard of living.

Demography: sex; age (classified); education: highest school degree or intended school degree; university degree; completed vocational training; employment; assessment of own job security; occupational status; household size; number of persons in household aged 18 and over; union member in household; denomination; church attendance; party affiliation; party identification.

Additionally coded were: sample frame (mobile or landline); questionnaire number; federal state of eligibility to vote; district of residence belonging to West Berlin or East Berlin; city size; weighting factors.