International Social Survey Programme: Role of Government I - ISSP 1985

The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is a continuous programme of cross-national collaboration running annual surveys on topics important for the social sciences. The programme started in 1984 with four founding members - Australia, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States – and has now grown to almost 50 member countries from all over the world. As the surveys are designed for replication, they can be used for both, cross-national and cross-time comparisons. Each ISSP module focuses on a specific topic, which is repeated in regular time intervals. Please, consult the documentation for details on how the national ISSP surveys are fielded. The present study focuses on questions about political attitudes and the role of government.<br>Civil rights: attitude to freedom of the press; attitude to
obeying the law; attitude to selected forms of protest against the
government; attitude to freedom of speech for revolutionaries and
racists; attitude to police intervention in the private sphere to
prevent criminal offences; attitude to the principle of rule by law: in
doubt for the accused; peceived threat to one´s private sphere through
centralized computer systems.

The state and social inequality; tax fairness; attitude to
government redistribution of income; equal opportunities; attitude to
government promotion of women; significance of various educational
goals and moral orientation for school education; judgement on the
chances of admittance to university; attitude to government financial
support of education; attitude to government intervention in parental
responsibilities for the protection of children; perceived degree of
influence a citizen can have on politics, on politicians and on
government decisions; interest in local elections.

Miscellaneous: time worked each week; position as a superior; trade
union membership; type of residence; party preference; religiousness;
self-assessment of social class; occupation of spouse; social origins;
voting behavior in the last election; size of city.

Government economic influence: attitude to state intervention in
the economy; attitude to changes in government expenditures for
selected political duties; judgement on tax burden for private
households and industry; desired government priority regarding
inflation or jobs; judgement on the power of unions, the economy and
the government; desired degree of intervention by the government in
selected economic areas; assessment of government responsibility
regarding various political duties.