Politbarometer East 1991 (Cumulated Data Set)

The Politbarometer has been conducted since 1977 on an almost monthly basis by the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen on behalf of the Second German Television (ZDF). Since 1990, this database has also been available for the new German states. The survey focuses on the opinions and attitudes of the voting-age population in the Federal Republic on current political issues, parties, politicians, and voting behavior. From 1990 to 1995 and from 1999 onward, the Politbarometer surveys were conducted separately both in the newly formed eastern and in the western German states (Politbarometer East and Politbarometer West). The separate monthly surveys of a year are integrated into a cumulative data set that includes all surveys of a year and all variables of the respective year. Starting in 2003, the Politbarometer short surveys, collected with varying frequency throughout the year, are integrated into the annual cumulation.<br>Most important problems in Germany; satisfaction with
democracy; party preference (Sunday question and rank order procedure);
behavior at the polls in the last Federal Parliament election; sympathy
scale for the parties in the Federal Parliament, the coalition, the
opposition as well as for selected federal politicians; judgement on
the economic situation in Eastern Germany and assumed further
development; judgement on one´s own economic situation; satisfaction
with achievement of living conditions equivalent to the western
standard and judgement on the efforts of the Federal Government in this
regard; self-classification on a left-right continuum; change of job in
the last year; assessment of job security.

Beyond this general part in the individual months questions with the
following contents were posed, in part repeatedly but also some only
one time: right politicians in leading positions; coalition preference
in case of new elections; most important politicians in Germany;
sympathy scale for the CDU/CSU or FDP as governing party, the
respective state government and the trust-company; sympathy scale for
Bush, Gorbachev, Adenauer, Erhard, Grotewohl, Honecker, Schumacher,
Ulbricht; party preference at state level; perceived unity of selected
parties in political questions; assessment of the coalition loyalty of
the CSU and FDP; expected statement of willingness to form a coalition
by the FDP at the next Federal Parliament election and judgement on
lack of statement of willingness to form a coalition; comparison of
character traits and capabilities of the top politicians Engholm and
Kohl; judgement on the unification process and fulfillment of personal
expectations; probability of moving to West Germany; comparison of
current, personal economic situation with the situation a year earlier;
ability of the government or opposition to resolve economic problems in
Eastern Germany; attitude to the Monday demonstrations; wage
development in Eastern Germany; satisfaction with the new regulations
e.g. regarding health insurance, car insurance and Road Traffic Act;
justified income differences between Eastern and Western Germany;
satisfaction with increase in fees and taxes to finance German unity;
judgement on the work of the trust-company and the speed of renovation
of government companies; attitude to privatization of government
property through issuance of people´s shares; interest in purchasing
such shares; judgement on economic development in Eastern Germany since
the turning point and fulfillment of expectations in the issuance of
the DM; perceived danger to economic recovery through former SED
functionaries in important positions; judgement on the influence of
former GDR CDU politicians after the turning point; attitude to legal
prosecution of former STASI employees as well as former GDR leaders;
attitude to extradition of Honecker; assumption of further activity of
the former State Security Service; attitude to an ammendment to the
constitution; Berlin or Bonn as desired seat of government and seat of
the Federal Parliament; preference for retention of ministries in Bonn;
judgement on the Federal Parliament decision about transfer of the seat
of government to Berlin; importance of decisions of municipal council,
state parliament, Federal Parliament and European Parliament;
satisfaction with functioning of the city or municipal administration;
disadvantages for Germans from the current political problems in the
Soviet Union and perceived obligation to help the people in the Soviet
Union; approval of independence of the Baltic republics Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania; desired effort of the Federal Republic for the
independence of the Baltic republics; attitude to awarding the Nobel
Peace Prize to Gorbachev; security of peace in Europe; comparison of
the danger from the Gulf War with dangers from the development in the
Soviet Union; attitude to intervention of allied military forces on the
Gulf; attitude to policies of the Federal Government as well as the SPD
on the Gulf War; the one primarily to blame and expected war-profiteer
in the Gulf War; personal fear due to the Gulf War; attitude to the use
of German soldiers in Turkey and an ammendment to the constitution to
enable the use of Federal German Armed Forces outside of the NATO area;
ammendment to the constitution also in case of a military UN mission;
agreement with an increased participation of the Federal Republic in
the cost of the Gulf War; agreement with a tax increase to finance the
Gulf War; judgement on the drammatic increase in conscientous
objectors; attitude to allied criticism of Germany´s cautiousness in
the Gulf War; attitude to an increased responsibility of united Germany
in international politics; preferred abortion regulation and importance
of such a regulation in one´s own view; party representing one´s own
interests on the abortion question; attitude to elimination of the visa
requirement for Poles; attitude to foreigners in Germany; government or
opposition as representative of one´s own policies on foreigners and
asylum; ability of the CDU/CSU or SPD to solve questions of the right
to asylum; general judgement on the right to asylum; assessment of
abuse of the right to asylum; attitude to a limited admission of
politically persecuted and deportation of applicants for asylum finally
turned down; attitude to a change in the law as well as an ammendment
to the constitution to prevent abuse of the right to asylum; right-wing
radicalism as problem; receipt of housing benefit; residential status;
mistake in the new rent bill and appropriateness of the rent; typical
characteristics of East Germans and West Germans (autostereotype,
heterostereotype and assumed heterostereotype); Serbs or Croats as
primarily to blame for the violent conflicts in Yugoslavia; approval of
national independence for Slovenia and Croatia as well as desired
effort of the Federal Republic for this independence; approval of an
end to economic aid for Yugoslavia; preference for a sales tax increase
or retention of the surcharge on wage and income tax; interest in
politics; joy about unification of the two German states; judgement on
the work of the Federal Government in the last year; vacation behavior
in the summer and country visited on vacation; visit to West Germany or
West Berlin after opening of the borders; frequency of visiting West
Germany; relatives and friends in West Germany; attitude to retention
of the 0% blood-alcohol limit; personal preference for use of a gift of
a large sum of money; contentment with life; personal retrospect on the
last year and prospect for the new year; religiousness; party
inclination; party identification.

Also encoded was: date of interview.