German Election Study, 1996 (Politbarometer) (ICPSR 34817)

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The Politbarometer series of German Election Studies has been administered monthly since 1977. Surveys were conducted only in West Germany until 1990, when East German Politbarometers were added to the series. The surveys are intended to assess the attitudes and opinions of eligible German voters on current events and problems, as well as on parties and politicians. In 1996, the surveys were united and were no longer designated as East or West. This data collection consists of a cumulative file of the monthly Politbarometer surveys for 1996. In these surveys, certain political questions were asked each month, while other topical questions were asked irregularly or only once. The following list of topics include: (1) Topics consistently covered in monthly Politbarometer administrations include: voting intention and party preference - voting behavior in the last federal parliamentary elections - sympathy scale for the parties - satisfaction with democracy, the activities of the federal government, and opposition parties - interest of the respondent in politics and a 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) - the competence of the government and opposition parties in ensuring the security of jobs and pensions, and seeing to improvements in the economy and environmental protection - assessments of the reputations of party leaders - comparison of the social conditions of Germany with those of neighboring West European countries - attitude toward an increased acceptance of world political power through a united Germany - perceived military threats - assessment of the security of peace in Europe - attitude toward nuclear power - attitude toward German reunification - opinion on the right of asylum in Germany - general attitude toward foreigners - evaluation of different beliefs in relation to abortion - perceived advantages arising from membership in the European Union - assessment of the most important problem confronting the German Federal Republic. (2) Topics covered in this data collection that may be unique to this survey year include: opinions of various political parties, including the Freie Demokratische Partei or Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), the Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus or Democratic Socialist Party (PDS), the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands or Social Democratic Party (SPD), and the Green Party, the CDU/CSU coalition (Christlich Demokratischen Union Deutschland [Democratic Christian Party]/Christlich Soziale Union in Bayern [Bavarian Social Christian Union] coalition) - other party coalition preferences - prospective federal Chancellor candidates and selected party leaders, comparison of economic and social conditions between East and West and opinion of federal government efforts to achieve equivalent living conditions in both parts of Germany - views on current industry/labor issues, including wages, sick pay, job preservation, work week length, health insurance, civil servants and their right to strike, the "Alliance for Jobs" proposal, unemployment benefits, and overtime - preference for tax increases or additional borrowing - attitude toward the privatization of services presently provided by government - opinion of the early retirement regulation and whether to eliminate it - preference for sales tax increases versus energy taxes - opinions on general tax policy and various other public economic policy issues - attitudes toward a common European currency, welfare, crime, nuclear power, abortion, Russian politics, an annual commemorative day for the victims of National Socialism, and immigration. Demographic information on respondents includes sex, age, marital status, occupation and employment status, religious preference, and trade union membership.

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