DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02843.v1
title: German Election Study, 1994 (Politbarometer West)
title: Version 1

description: This data collection is part of an omnibus study on German political attitudes and behavior, with a focus on the 1994 German Federal Parliament election. It consists of two pre-election investigations (GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994: PRE-ELECTION STUDY [POLICY AND PARTY PREFERENCE] [ICPSR 2861] and GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994: PRE-ELECTION STUDY [TREND INVESTIGATIONS] [ICPSR 2862]), the Politbarometer East (GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994 [POLITBAROMETER EAST] [ICPSR 2842]), this study, and a post-election study (GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994: POST-ELECTION [ICPSR 2860]). This study is a cumulative file of monthly Politbarometer West surveys for 1994. Interviews were conducted with German citizens living in areas that were part of the former West Germany. Questions focused on a wide range of political issues, including respondents' opinions of German political parties and politicians, both before and after the German Federal Parliamentary election of 1994. The following list of topics covered in this dataset was derived from the summary appearing on the website of the Zentralarchiv fuer Empirische Sozialforschung an der Universitaet zu Koeln (English translation), at http://www.za.uni-koeln.de/. (1) A few topics were covered in all monthly surveys: assessment of the most important political problems confronting the German Federal Republic. - respondent's party preference, inclination, and identification. - choices made at the polls in the last Federal Parliamentary election. - sympathy scale for the parties and selected politicians. - self-assessment on a left-right political continuum. - fear of loss of the respondent's own job or the jobs of others. - respondent's current union membership. - respondent's religious beliefs and practices. (2) Other topics were covered in at least one monthly survey: - preference for voting by absentee ballot versus voting in the polling station. - certainty and time of personal vote decision. - attitude toward a one-party government of CDU/CSU (Christlich Demokratischen Union Deutschlands or Democratic Christian Party/Christlich Soziale Union in Bayern or Bavarian Social Christian Union) or SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands or Social Democratic Party). - satisfaction with the results of the Federal Parliamentary election. - coalition preference. - attitude toward a statement of willingness by the SPD to form a coalition. - attitude toward a red-green minority government with toleration by the PDS (Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus or Democratic Socialist Party). - preference for one-party government, and party preference. - assessment of the chances of the SPD with Gerhard Schroeder as party candidate for chancellor, as well as the chances of the CDU without Chancellor Helmut Kohl. - sympathy scale for the present coalition and for the opposition. - assessment of who the most important politicians were in Germany at the time. - comparison of Rudolf Scharping and Kohl regarding credibility, energy, sense of responsibility, social attitude, honesty, winner type, representation of interests regarding other nations, strength of leadership, and better government team, as well as ability in economic areas. - satisfaction with democracy in Germany. - necessity for new parties. - respondent's interest in politics. - opinion on the general condition of German society and comparison with other Western European countries. - opinion of socialism as an idea. - assessment of the reunification of Germany. - assessment of the economic situation in western Germany and the respondent's own economic situation. - expectation of Germany's further economic development. - expectation of Germany's economic recovery. - ability of the government versus the opposition to solve economic problems in eastern Germany, as well as in western Germany. - importance of which party governs in relation to the respondent's own economic situation. - credibility of the election promises of the parties regarding tax reductions. - ability of a federal government led by the CDU/CSU, in comparison to one led by the SPD, to protect jobs, fight crime, protect the environment, improve the housing market, and solve the asylum problem. - whether people living in eastern Germany were justified in their dissatisfaction with their living conditions. - whether the federal government had achieved equivalent living conditions between the regions, and, if conditions were not equal, whether the respondent had an expected time period for the achievement of equality. - preference for wage increases versus job security. - expectation of the retention of the high wage level in Germany, with short working hours and long vacations. - satisfaction with the year's wage negotiations. - opinion of dual citizenship. - opinion of reduced entry wages for the long-term unemployed. - attitude toward the creation of more part-time jobs. - personal preference for full-time or part-time work. - interest in permanent part-time work. - preferred government economic measures. - opinion of the "large bugging operation" to combat organized crime. - opinion of nursing care insurance, and identification of the political party that hindered a consensus on that issue. - support for the elimination of a work holiday in order to finance nursing care insurance. - coming to terms with the former DDR's STASI (Ministry for State Security or secret police). - satisfaction with the performance by the government. - comparison of the SPD to a red-green coalition as a better government. - significance of the decisions of the Municipal Council, State Parliament, and Federal Parliament, as well as the EC (European Community) Parliament. - intention to participate in, and party preference for, the European election. - advantages of EC membership for Germany. - extent to which the respondent feels adequately informed about the EC. - interest in European policies. - attitude toward an increased role for the European Parliament. - opinion on the prohibition of the Republican Party. - preferred successor to Federal President Weizsaecker. - judgment on the testimony of Prime Minister Stolpe before the investigating committee, and on demands for Stolpe's resignation. - attitude toward the recommendation of the SPD for a supplemental tax as an alternative to the solidarity tax. - amount of income that is considered to be a high income. - opinion as to a time limit on the solidarity tax. - perceived threat from Russia, as well as from Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky. - opinion as to whether the threat of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) air strikes would lead to a cease-fire in Bosnia and Herzegovina. - attitude toward Germany's participation in a NATO peace initiative. - attitude toward the deployment of German Armed Forces in blue-helmet missions. - attitude toward United Nations (UN) military missions, given violation of the security zones. - whether Serbs, Moslems, and Croats were equally guilty in the war in Bosnia. - attitude toward a deployment of Tornados of the German Armed Forces in Bosnia. - attitude toward missions of the German Armed Forces outside of NATO territory. - desire for stronger intervention by the UN in Bosnia. - attitude toward the deportation of Kurds guilty of criminal offenses. - attitude toward a greater foreign policy responsibility for Germany, as well as for the EU. - predictions as to the winners of the upcoming Federal Parliament elections. - assumed coalition preference of the SPD. - credibility of the renewal of the PDS. - desirability and chances of the PDS, FDP (Freie Demokratische Partei or Liberal Democratic Party), and Greens to be elected to the Federal Parliament. - judgment on the 5-Percent Clause, and attitude toward the exception for direct mandates in the 5-Percent Clause. - expected chances of the CDU/CSU for a one-party government. - coalition preference for Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. - attitude toward cooperation of the other political parties with the PDS. - expected stability of the CDU/CSU-FDP coalition due to the narrow majority of ten seats. - perception of the FDP as an appendage of the CDU/CSU. - attitude toward a coalition of the Greens with the CDU. - attitude toward ministers who are also party chairmen holding offices. - attitude toward quota arrangements in politics. - support for the subsidy for coal and for an energy tax. - most important tasks that the government faced. - preference for fee financing of the ARD (First German Television Network) and the ZDF (Second German Television Network) versus financing through advertising income. - preference for freeway tolls versus a gasoline tax. - fear of abuse of electronic freeway-measuring equipment. - attitude toward elimination of the church tax. - opinion on the controlled administering of drugs under medical supervision. - attitude toward elimination of the child allowance above a certain income. - attitude toward longer business hours one evening a week. - preference for a more market-oriented economy or for more social security. - respondents' origins and, if they moved to western Germany, when they did so. - opinions on the previous year and expectations for the future. Also encoded in every survey wave were day of survey and administrative district.
description: The data are provided as an SPSS portable file.
This collection has not been processed by ICPSR staff. ICPSR is distributing the data and documentation for this collection in essentially the same form in which they were received. When appropriate, hardcopy documentation has been converted to machine-readable form and variables have been recoded to ensure respondents' anonymity.
The codebook is in German only.
The codebook is provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided through the ICPSR Website on the Internet.