Study title

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.1. The following topics were posed identically at every survey time: most important political problems of the Federal Republic; intent to participate in the next Federal Parliament election; behavior at the polls in the last Federal Parliament election; sympathy scale for the SPD, CDU, CSU, FDP, the Greens and the PDS; party preference according to the rank order procedure; sympathy scale for Helmut Kohl, Oskar Lafontaine, Wolfgang Schaeuble and Gerhard Schroeder; judgement on the economic situation of the country and one´s own economic situation; expected economic situation for the country; self-assessment on a left-right continuum. 2. In at least one or more survey months the following questions were posed: party preference (Sunday question, first vote and second vote); certainty of one´s voting decision; other voting decision given knowledge about election result; satisfaction with election result; coalition preference; attitude to a grand coalition; expected conduct of the SPD if a red-green majority is prevented; attitude to a clear coalition statement by...