German election study, August-September 1969

Description

Two separate national samples were interviewed during the course of the 1969 election campaign in the Federal Republic. Both studies utilized identical questionnaires and, therefore, have been combined into a single dataset. These studies scanned a wide range of political attitudes and behavior. A series of political questions dealing with such topics as revaluation, co-determination, electoral reform, domestic stability, and ''Ostpolitik'' assessed the opinions of the voting public. The respondents indicated their position on each issue, the salience of the issue, and finally the competence of the major parties in dealing with the most salient issues. These surveys also measured the respondents' awareness and evaluations of major political figures in the Federal Republic, their partisan attachments, political interest, voting behavior, past and present, and their anticipated vote in the 1969 election. Another portion of the interview measured the respondents' sense of political efficacy as well as their opinions on government performance, their toleration of dissent, their support of popular participation in government decision making, their opinion of open electoral competition between political parties of non-authoritarianism. The personal data section compiled extensive information on the occupation and social mobility of the respondent in addition to the basic demographic data.