Election Study 1983 (Panel)

Topics: 1. The following questions were repeated in all three waves: judgement on current economic situation as well as on anticipated economic development in the Federal Republic; political interest; voting behavior in the 1980 Federal Parliament election; party identification; party preference (rank order, list and ballot procedure); sympathy scale for SPD, CDU, FDP, the Greens as well as for selected top politicians in the Federal Parliament and in the government; self-assessment on a left-right continuum; issue-relevance and issue-competence of the parties; judgement on the political system and the present government as just and fair and as protector of fundamental civil liberties of the citizens. 2.

Beyond this the following questions were asked in the three individual waves: a) In the first wave: voting intent and certainty of one´s voting decision; attitude to a reduction in student aid; judgement on the peace movement and personal willingness to participate in demonstrations; evaluation of leadership personalities in the Federal Republic; necessity of a new party to represent the interests of the respondent; attitude to an entry of the Greens or the FDP´s remaining in the Federal Parliament; attitude to the intervention of the state in the life of its citizens; attitude to the political influence of churches and trade unions; expectation of an early Federal Parliament election in March 1983; preferred government coalition after the election; memberships; religiousness; characterization of residential area according to professional groups. b) In the second wave: certainty and time of personal election decision; party and candidates voted for in 1980; satisfaction with the top candidate of the preferred party; good and bad sides of the parties; parties one cannot vote for; unemployment in one´s own family; preferred government coalition after the election; expected election result; preferred federal chancellor; residental status of respondent; anticipated rent increase this year; justification of rent increases to create housing. c) In the third wave: personal voting behavior in the Federal Parliament election; voting at a polling station or by absentee ballot; change of voting behavior in case of knowledge about the election result; judgement on the election result; preferred government coalition; judgement on the election campaign TV discussion of the top candidates; judgement on the election campaign in general; assessment of the most active election campaigner; attitude to the peace movement and willingness to participate in demonstrations; perceived position of the parties in the Federal Parliament on the most important issues; most important personal problems at present; anticipated help from family or state and authorities in solving these problems.