75 Years Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (August 2023)

The study on the Basic Law was conducted by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research on behalf of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government. During the survey period from 4 August 2023 to 16 August 2023, the German population aged 16 and over was surveyed in personal interviews on the following topics: attitudes towards democracy and the political system in Germany, trust in the Basic Law and the Federal Constitutional Court, knowledge of the Basic Law and awareness and evaluation of individual fundamental rights. Possible amendments to the Basic Law (right to digital sovereignty, children´s rights, modification of the right to asylum) also played a role. The respondents were selected using a quota sample.<br>Trust in institutions (Federal Government, Federal President, European Commission, Bundestag, the parties, Bundesrat, Basic Law, Federal Constitutional Court); satisfaction with democracy or satisfaction with the political system in Germany (split A); democracy is the best form of government vs. there are better ones (split B); agreement with various positive statements about democracy (e.g. our political system ensures stable political conditions, our political system guarantees many freedoms, the courts work independently, the tasks are well distributed between the federal and state governments, etc.); agreement with various negative statements about democracy (e.g. too little influence of citizens on politics, often unclear how laws are made, difficult for citizens to get in touch with politicians, etc.); freedom of opinion in Germany (you can speak freely, with restrictions, better to be careful, undecided, comment on freedom of opinion mentioned); knowledge test on the entry into force of the Basic Law (year - open); after 75 years, new Basic Law required vs. do not need a new one; associations associated with the Basic Law (stability, freedom, outdated, democracy, protection of citizens, success story, complicated, progressive/modern); knowledge test on the fundamental right in Article 1 of the Basic Law (complete citation (human dignity is inviolable) incomplete citation, human rights, correct paraphrase, incorrect statement, additionally mentioned equality, equality of all people, all people are equal, additionally mentioned freedom, freedom of opinion, other statement); mention of the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Basic Law; mention of the ten most important fundamental rights guaranteed in the Basic Law; fundamental rights that should be better protected; concerns about the loss of importance of the Basic Law because more and more is regulated at European level; fundamental rights and freedoms are sufficiently respected by the state vs. not sufficiently respected; impression that the Federal Constitutional Court sufficiently ensures compliance with fundamental rights; need for reform of the Basic Law with regard to various topics (summary of open responses: Asylum, refugees, foreigners, citizenship, digitalization, internet, data processing, data protection, equal rights men-women, homosexuals, 3rd sex, crime, law enforcement, environmental protection, sustainability, animal welfare, religion, faith, reference to God in the Basic Law, children´s rights, child protection, referendums, citizen consultations, education, education system, other indication); advocating the inclusion of children´s rights in the Basic Law (incl. including the right to development and support as well as the right to participation); support for the inclusion of the protection of digital sovereignty in the Basic Law; support for the right to asylum enshrined in the Basic Law vs. existing right to asylum should be restricted; support for an amendment to Article 3 of the Basic Law to replace the word race; opinion on freedom of expression in social networks (goes too far, is restricted too much, appropriate, undecided); opinion on freedom of assembly in Germany (goes too far, is restricted too much, appropriate, undecided); 75th anniversary of the Basic Law - a reason to celebrate vs. no reason to celebrate.

Demography: sex; age; age categories; school-leaving qualification; occupation; occupational status; monthly net income of main earner (grouped); main earner (respondent, other person in household); children; number of children; age of children; number of children in household; multi-person household or single household; number of people in household with own income; monthly net household income (grouped); marital status; living with a partner; interest in politics; party sympathy.

Additionally coded were: external questionnaire number; indicator of the semi-groups, indicator of the West-East arc; weighting; Nielsen areas; number of inhabitants of the place of residence (size of place); character of the place of residence; socio-economic status; respondent has mentioned at least one of the eleven positive statements about democracy; respondent has mentioned at least one of the ten negative statements about democracy; respondent has mentioned at least one of the five statements about freedom of expression; respondent has mentioned at least one of the eight points on the fundamental right in Article 1 of the Basic Law; respondent has mentioned at least one of the 25 points on the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Basic Law; respondent has mentioned at least one of the 25 points on the most important fundamental rights; respondent has mentioned at least one of the 25 points on the fundamental rights that need to be better protected; respondent has mentioned at least one of the 10 points on the need to reform the Basic Law.