DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02862.v1
title: German Election Study, 1994: Pre-Election Study (Trend Investigations)
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 (this study and GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994: PRE-ELECTION STUDY [POLICY AND PARTY PREFERENCE] [ICPSR 2861], the Politbarometer West (GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994 [POLITBAROMETER WEST] [ICPSR 2843]), the Politbarometer East (GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994 [POLITBAROMETER EAST] [ICPSR 2842]), and a post-election study (GERMAN ELECTION STUDY, 1994: POST-ELECTION [ICPSR 2860]). This study is a cumulative file of 13 individual surveys conducted in 1994. Twelve of the surveys were conducted at varying intervals prior to the October German Federal Parliament election, taken monthly at first, and increasing in frequency as the election approached. The last survey took place shortly after the election. German citizens were asked for their opinions on a wide range of political issues, including German political parties and politicians, the media's role in the election campaign, and European policy issues. Among the topics covered were the following, 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) Parties, politicians, and the importance of the upcoming election: assessment of the most important political problems confronting Germany. - party and candidate preference, inclination, and identification. - self-classification on a left-right political scale. - sympathy scale for the parties, the government, the opposition, and top politicians. - interest in politics and intention to participate in the upcoming election. - preference for using an absentee ballot versus voting in the polling station. - certainty and time of personal vote decision. - choices made at the polls in the last Federal Parliament election. - coalition preferences. - most important criteria in the decision to vote for a party, such as party program, top politicians, or policies of the last four years. - interest in the election of the Statt party. - 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). - perceived jeopardy to the country's economic recovery in having an SPD-Green Party government. - attitude toward a statement of willingness to form a coalition by the FDP (Freie Demokratische Partei or Liberal Democratic Party), as well as by the SPD, before the next Federal Parliament election. - attitude toward an SPD-Green minority government, with the help of the PDS (Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus or Democratic Socialist Party). - preference for federal chancellor. - perceived harm for the country in the chancellorship of Rudolf Scharping or Helmut Kohl. - effects of Kohl's statement not to run for office in the next Federal Parliament election. - opinion of Gerhard Schroeder as candidate for chancellor. - preference for new versus experienced politicians. - opinion of who was the most active election campaigner. - comparison of the two candidates for chancellor, Sharping and Kohl, regarding credibility, energy, sense of responsibility, social attitude, honesty, winner type, record of achievement, leadership qualities, and ability to solve economic problems of the country. - satisfaction with democracy and with the condition of German society. - assessment of the current economic situation and prospects for future development. - assessment of the respondent's personal economic situation and prospects. - dependence of respondent's economic situation on the composition of the federal government. - government composition most able to solve the economic problems in eastern Germany, as well as in western Germany. - issue competence of selected coalitions. - opinion of the demand by the Green Party to dissolve the German Armed Forces, as well as to eliminate NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). - assumption about the coalition preferences of the SPD, and opinion on various coalition possibilities. - preference in the Federal presidential election. - acceptance of Roman Herzog as Federal president. - renewal of the PDS, versus merely renaming it. - attitude toward the PDS in the Federal Parliament. - necessity of the PDS to achieve eastern German interests. - respondent's assessment of the chances for the election of the PDS, as well as of the FDP and Alliance 90/Greens, to the Federal Parliament. - opinion of the PDS's successes in eastern Germany, whether they signalled a danger to economic recovery and to democracy. - significance and effect of the Federal Parliament election. - expected winner of the upcoming Parliament election. (2) The media and advertising's role in election politics: the respondent's general television viewing habits. - whether the respondent obtained news from television or radio. - frequency of watching the evening news on the First and Second Television Networks, as well as the news broadcasts of SAT1, RTL, and PRO7. - interest in political news and other broadcasts on television and radio. - reports noticed about the Federal Parliament election in news broadcasts on television, other TV broadcasts, and on the radio. - frequency of reading the Bild newspaper. - interest in the political reports in the Bild newspaper, and reports noticed about the Federal Parliament election in that newspaper. - frequency of reading daily newspapers and which ones read. - interest in political topics in the daily newspaper, and reports noticed about the upcoming election. - frequency of noticing election advertisements in newspapers and magazines. - frequency of contact with election posters, handbills, brochures, and TV election broadcasts by the political parties. - general interest in election advertising. - frequency of, and interest in, political conversations, conversations about the upcoming election, and election topics such as top candidates and campaign events. (3) European policies: interest in European policies. - intent to participate in and party preference for the European election. - choices made at the polls in the European election in 1989. - preference for an independent nation-state versus the European Union (EU). - attitude toward increased powers for the European Parliament. - advantage of German EU membership for Germany. - extent to which the respondent was informed about the duties of the European Parliament. - advantages or disadvantages of the domestic market. - attitude toward a common currency (ECU). - preference for national versus European responsibility in the fight against unemployment, environmental protection, the fight against crime, and in solving problems in agriculture. - attitude toward increased participation by Germany, as well as the EU, in world conflict resolution. - opinion of the admission into the EU of Austria, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, as well as the future admission of Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, the Baltic nations, and Turkey. - attitude toward the decision-making authority of the European Parliament over the admission of new countries. (4) Final survey taken after the Federal Parliament election: assessment of the performance of the individual parties in the election, versus what was expected. - satisfaction with the results of the election. - preference for a one-party government versus a coalition government. - party preferred for one-party government. - desired coalition composition. - speculation as to election results with Schroeder as candidate for chancellor, or without Kohl as a candidate. - judgment of the PDS direct mandate, as well as the 5-Percent Clause. (5) Other topics: attitude toward removing restrictions on hard, as well as soft, drugs. - opinion on German reunification. - opinion on the term "red socks". - opinion on the deployment of the German Armed Forces at violent public demonstrations. - opinion on the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court regarding deployment of the German Armed Forces outside of NATO territory. - opinion of socialism as an idea. - attitude toward the deportation of Kurds guilty of criminal offenses. (6) Demographic questions: - personal job security. - status as an employee or civil servant. - union membership. - religious practice. - city size and residential status. - satisfaction with residence. - whether the respondent was currently house hunting, or had been within the last year.
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.