ARD-DeutschlandTrend 1999

Since 1997 the ARD-DeutschlandTREND is being conducted on behalf of the ARD (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland - First German Public Broadcasting Association) as well as various print media by Infratest dimap. The monthly telephone survey with approx. 1,000 respondents (for party preferences approx. 1,500 respondents) per wave is based on representative samples and measures attitudes of the voting-age population in the Federal Republic of Germany toward parties, politicians, and current political issues. Some topics are asked repeatedly in an identical manner over time, while other topics are included in one or several surveys only. The DeutschlandTREND is available as an annual cumulation for the years from 1998 onwards.<br>Party preference in the next federal election (Sunday question); satisfaction with selected top politicians (Andrea Fischer, Edmund Stoiber, Franz Müntefering, Gregor Gysi, Gerhard Schröder, Hans Eichel, Joschka Fischer, Jürgen Trittin, Oskar Lafontaine, Otto Schily, Roland Koch, Rudolf Scharping, Rolf Schwanitz, Volker Rühe, Wolfgang Clement, Guido Westerwelle, Wolfgang Gerhardt, Werner Müller, Walter Riester and Wolfgang Schäuble); Chancellor preference for Gerhard Schröder or Edmund Stoiber or for Gerhard Schröder or Wolfgang Schäuble; characteristics of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the PDS and SPD parties, (credible, advocates social justice, represents respondent´s interests, competent in economic issues, right concepts for the future, advocates equalization of living conditions in East and West, has particularly capable politicians, pursues worthwhile goals); agreement with various statements about the FDP; assessment of the problem-solving competence of a CDU/CSU-led Federal Government; party competence: Most competent party to solve selected political tasks (securing old-age pensions, securing jobs and creating new ones, policy on foreigners and asylum, reliable foreign policy, uniform living conditions in East and West, energy and nuclear policy, social justice, health policy, innovations in business, labor and society, representing Germany´s interests in the European Union, solving the Kosovo conflict, fighting crime, reducing debt, lowering the tax burden, tax policy, environmental policy, securing Germany as a business location, securing citizens´ prosperity, solving Germany´s future problems); conditions in Germany currently more cause for confidence or more cause for concern; assessment of the economic situation in Germany at present and in a year´s time; satisfaction with the work of the individual governing parties, SPD and Greens; satisfaction with the work of the red-green Federal Government; pension system can be maintained despite demographic change; expected development of the environmental situation in the 21st century; expected change in the gap between rich and poor; fears and confidence with regard to the next century (topics); personal significance of 1999 as the last year of the century; expectations for the lives of today´s young people in Germany compared with the lives of their parents; expectations regarding personal financial situation in the coming year; rather advantages or rather disadvantages for the respondent personally as a result of the introduction of the Euro in January 1999; Germany should assert national interests in the EU versus putting them aside in favor of European unification; important goals of the European Union under the presidency of Germany; assessment of the reaction of physicians due to the planned limitation of doctors´ fees and drugs as appropriate versus excessive; agreement with the assessment of the President of the Medical Association Vilmar on the earlier death of people due to this limitation; most important political problems in Germany; assessment of the political work of the red-green Federal Government on the basis of school grades; assessment of the opposition led by Wolfgang Schäuble in the Bundestag on the basis of school grades; support for German citizenship for foreigners who have lived in Germany for a long time or were born here; opinion on dual citizenship; opinion on a large memorial in Berlin to the Jews murdered by the Nazis; preference for Johannes Rau or the East German physics professor Dagmar Schipanski as Federal President; preferred date for shutting down the last nuclear reactor; red-green Federal Government will achieve its goal of reducing unemployment by 2002; opinion on deportation of violent Kurds to Turkey even with threat of torture or death penalty; expectation of fair trial for PKK leader Öcalan in Turkey; classification of political parties on a left-right continuum; self-classification left-right; party preference for European Parliament elections; Kosovo conflict: necessity of NATO airstrikes on Serbia and in Kosovo; continuing NATO airstrikes in Kosovo versus calling off attacks; approval of deployment of NATO ground forces in Kosovo with participation of German soldiers; main culprit for expansion of Kosovo conflict; war in Yugoslavia: support for NATO airstrikes on Serbia and in Kosovo; Green Party opinion on open and controversial discussions of NATO deployment in Kosovo; opinion on the reorganization of the law on 630-Mark jobs; national debt: Finance Minister Eichel will prevail with his drastic austerity measures; opinion on the scope of the Federal Government´s 30 billion austerity package; austerity measures by Labor and Social Affairs Minister Riester reasonable for pensioners; Federal Government´s austerity and reform package socially balanced versus too much injustice; opinion on inclusion of East Germans in austerity measures; Bündnis90/ Die Grünen: demand for resignation of Federal Environment Minister Trittin; assessment of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder after 8 months in office; Bundeswehr should be exempt from austerity measures of the Federal Government to ensure international operational capability; advocacy of reintroduction of wealth tax; dispute over direction between Schröder and the left wing of the SPD harms the party versus advances the SPD; best FDP chairman to date (Gerhardt, Kinkel, Lambsdorff, Bangemann, Genscher); Germany needs the FDP as a liberal party; call for FDP chairman Gerhardt to resign if FDP fails in upcoming state elections in five states; satisfaction with Federal Government´s efforts to date in various policy areas; satisfaction with development in Germany after unification; self-assessment as winner or loser of unification; only to East Germans: expected period of time until East German living conditions equalize with West German living conditions; new state in which economic development has progressed furthest; again, all: evaluation of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder after one year in office; mainly responsible for SPD´s lost approval rating (Chancellor Schröder, the party, or both equally); potential willingness to vote for PDS; reasons for willingness to vote for PDS (only to potential PDS voters); opinion on various measures taken by Federal Government to reduce public debt; opinion on SPD demand to make wealthy pay more to reduce public debt; wealth taxes that should be increased; nuclear phase-out: Opinion on remaining lifetimes for nuclear power plants; demand that nuclear phaseout be codified by law in the absence of an agreement between the Federal Government and the nuclear industry; dispute over healthcare reform: restriction of annual spending on doctors and hospitals versus greater personal burden on patients; expectation of greater SPD unity at party convention in December; CDU donations affair only a problem of former CDU treasurer Walther Leisler Kiep, a problem of the CDU or a donations problem of all parties; demand for disclosure of professional income and expenses by top politicians.

Demographics: sex; age; employment; occupational status; highest level of schooling; household net income.

Additionally coded were: record or pagination number; wave identifier; region (east/west); federal state; BIK community type; weighting factor.