German Election Study, 1998 (Politbarometer) (ICPSR 34700)

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The Politbarometer surveys are undertaken to assess the attitudes and opinions of eligible German voters on current events and problems, as well as on parties and politicians. The topics covered in the 1998 German election study fall into two broad categories: (1) Topics consistently covered in the monthly Politbarometer surveys in 1998 include: voting intention and party preference, voting behavior in the last federal parliamentary elections, sympathy scale for the parties, interest of the respondent in politics and self-assessed position on a left-right political continuum, assessment of the economic situation in the Federal Republic (and anticipated further development), and the respondent's own economic situation (and expected development). (2) Topics covered in at least one month during the survey year include: satisfaction with democracy, activities of the federal government and opposition parties, competence of the government and opposition parties, attitudes toward political coalitions, assessment of the most important political personalities and candidates for election in the Federal Republic, comparison of the social conditions of Germany with those of neighboring West European countries, attitudes about revisions to the system of taxation, feelings about changes in border controls, attitudes toward collective bargaining and worker rights, the advantages and disadvantages of the use of the euro, attitudes toward nuclear power, importance of soccer, attitudes toward the National Socialist past, World War II, and the Holocaust, opinions of various political parties, including the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Freie Demokratische Partei or Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands or Social Democratic Party (SPD), and the Green Party. Demographic information on respondents includes sex, age, marital status, household size and composition, education, occupation and employment status, religious preference, and trade union membership.

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