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.At all nine survey times the following questions were posed: party preference (list procedure and rank order procedure); sympathy scale for the parties, government, opposition and selected top politicians; party inclination; party identification; union membership; religiousness; description of residential surroundings; city size. In at least one of the monthly surveys the following questions were posed: right people in leading positions; satisfaction with democracy; political interest; party one cannot vote for; sympathy scale for Reagan and Thatcher; judgement on general as well as personal economic situation and expected further economic development; comparison of the economic situation in the Federal Republic with other countries of the EC; significance of the governing party for one´s own economic situation and preferred party in view of the economic development; assessment of the development of general unemployment; job creation as government or private task; expected effectiveness of the employment program of the Federal Government and attitude to...