State Election in Lower Saxony 2017

Assessment of parties and politicians. Attitude towards political issues.

Topics: eligibility to vote in the state elections in Lower Saxony; most important political issues in Lower Saxony; intention to participate in the state elections; intended voting type (polling station or postal vote); party preference (first vote and second vote); certainty of personal voting decision; importance of federal politics for the personal voting decision at state level; interest in the state election; voting behaviour in the last state election; coalition preference; attitude towards a government of SPD and Grünen, SPD, Grünen and FDP, CDU, Grünen and FDP, split B: to a government of CDU and SPD under the leadership of the CDU, of SPD and CDU under the leadership of the SPD (end of split B), split A: on a government consisting of CDU and FDP, CDU and Grünen (end of split A) and SPD, Greens and Linke; sympathy scales for selected parties at federal and state level; satisfaction with the state government of SPD and Grünen, the individual parties SPD and Grüne in the state government and the parties CDU and FDP in the opposition in the state parliament (scalometer); knowledge of the top candidates of the SPD and CDU for prime minister; sympathy scale for selected top politicians (Bernd Althusmann, Stefan Birkner, Angela Merkel, Anja Piel, Martin Schulz and Stephan Weil); party that pleases best and second best; political interest; preference for Stephan Weil or Bernd Althusmann as prime minister; split B: comparison of the credibility, sympathy, expertise, closeness to the citizen and energy of the two leading politicians Stephan Weil and Bernd Althusmann (end of Split B); assessment of the economic situation of the federal state in general and in comparison to the other western German federal states; economic expectations for Lower Saxony; assessment of the personal economic situation at present and in one year; split A: most competent party for solving the economic problems in the federal state, in the areas of job creation, family policy, social justice, crime, school and education policy and transport policy (end of split A); Lower Saxony can cope with many refugees; party that most likely represents a policy in the personal sense regarding refugees and asylum; opinion on the sustainability of the federal state; most competent party for the solution of future problems of the federal state; assessment of the work of Prime Minister Stephan Weil; development of the differences between rich and poor; opinion on the speed of technical progress; traditional moral concepts have lost importance; regret over this loss of importance; extent of the damage for the AfD by the internal party dispute after the federal elections; too much vs. too little consideration of the interests of the Volkswagen Group by politics in Lower Saxony; greater involvement of the CDU or SPD in scandals and affairs in Lower Saxony (split A); support for early elections in Lower Saxony; expected winner of the state elections; preference for a CDU-led or an SPD-led state government; opinion on a government consisting of CDU/CSU, FDP and Grünen; split B: Chancellor Angela Merkel helpful or harmful for the CDU´s performance in the state elections; SPD candidate for chancellor Martin Schulz helpful or harmful for the SPD´s performance in the state elections (end of split B); fair share of living standards.

Demography: sex; age (classified); marital status; cohabitation with a partner; highest school leaving certificate or desired school leaving certificate; university degree; completed vocational training; occupation; assessment of own job security; occupational status; household size; number of persons aged 18 and over in the household; trade union member in the household; denomination; frequency of church attendance; party affiliation; party identification; number of telephone numbers in the household; city size.

Additionally coded was: questionnaire number; weighting factor.

Various questions were asked only half of the respondents. A forked questionnaire was used.