PROBLEM AND OPPORTUNITY In the United States, voting is largely a private matter. A registered voter is given a randomized ballot form or machine to prevent linkage between their voting choices and their identity. This disconnect supports confidence in the election process, but it provides obstacles to an election's analysis. A common solution is to field exit polls, interviewing voters immediately after leaving their polling location. This method is rife with bias, however, and functionally limited in direct demographics data collected. For the 2020 general election, though, most states published their election results for each voting location. These publications were additionally supported by the geographical areas assigned to each location, the voting precincts. As a result, geographic processing can now be applied to project precinct election results onto Census block groups. While precinct have few demographic traits directly, their geographies have characteristics that make them projectable onto U.S. Census geographies. Both state voting precincts and U.S. Census block groups: are exclusive, and do not overlap are adjacent, fully covering their corresponding state and potentially county have roughly the same size in area, population and voter presence Analytically, a projection of local demographics does not allow conclusions about voters themselves. However, the dataset does allow statements related to the geographies that yield voting behavior. One could say, for example, that an area dominated by a particular voting pattern would have mean traits of age, race, income or household structure. The dataset that results from this programming provides voting results allocated by Census block groups. The block group identifier can be joined to Census Decennial and American Community Survey demographic estimates. DATA SOURCES The state election results and geographies have been compiled by Voting and Election Science team on Harvard's dataverse. State voting precincts lie within state and county boundaries. The Census Bureau, on the other hand, publishes its estimates across a variety of geographic definitions including a hierarchy of states, counties, census tracts and block groups. Their definitions can be found here. The geometric shapefiles for each block group are available here. The lowest level of this geography changes often and can obsolesce before the next census survey (Decennial or American Community Survey programs). The second to lowest census level, block groups, have the benefit of both granularity and stability however. The 2020 Decennial survey details US demographics into 217,740 block groups with between a few hundred and a few thousand people. Dataset Structure The dataset's columns include: Column Definition BLOCKGROUP_GEOID 12 digit primary key. Census GEOID of the block group row. This code concatenates: 2 digit state 3 digit county within state 6 digit Census Tract identifier 1 digit Census Block Group identifier within tract STATE State abbreviation, redundent with 2 digit state FIPS code above REP Votes for Republican party candidate for president DEM Votes for Democratic party candidate for president LIB Votes for Libertarian party candidate for president OTH Votes for presidential candidates other than Republican, Democratic or Libertarian AREA square kilometers of area associated with this block group GAP total area of the block group, net of area attributed to voting precincts PRECINCTS Number of voting precincts that intersect this block group ASSUMPTIONS, NOTES AND CONCERNS: Votes are attributed based upon the proportion of the precinct's area that intersects the corresponding block group. Alternative methods are left to the analyst's initiative. 50 states and the District of Columbia are in scope as those U.S. possessions voting in the general election for the U.S. Presidency. Three states did not report their results at the precinct level: South Dakota, Kentucky and West Virginia. A dummy block group is added for each of these states to maintain national totals. These states represent 2.1% of all votes cast. Counties are commonly coded using FIPS codes. However, each election result file may have the county field named differently. Also, three states do not share county definitions - Delaware, Massachusetts, Alaska and the District of Columbia. Block groups may be used to capture geographies that do not have population like bodies of water. As a result, block groups without intersection voting precincts are not uncommon. In the U.S., elections are administered at a state level with the Federal Elections Commission compiling state totals against the Electoral College weights. The states have liberty, though, to define and change their own voting precincts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_precinct. The Census Bureau... Visit https://dataone.org/datasets/sha256%3A05707c1dc04a814129f751937a6ea56b08413546b18b351a85bc96da16a7f8b5 for complete metadata about this dataset.

According to exit polling in the 2020 Presidential Election in the United States, ** percent of surveyed voters making less than 50,000 U.S. dollars reported voting for former Vice President Joe Biden. In the race to become the next president of the United States, ** percent of voters with an income of 100,000 U.S. dollars or more reported voting for incumbent President Donald Trump.

This graph shows the percentage of votes of the 2016 presidential elections in the United States on November 9, 2016, by income. According to the exit polls, about 53 percent of voters with an income of under 30,000 U.S. dollars voted for Hillary Clinton.

This study contains selected demographic, social, economic, public policy, and political comparative data for Switzerland, Canada, France, and Mexico for the decades of 1900-1960. Each dataset presents comparable data at the province or district level for each decade in the period. Various derived measures, such as percentages, ratios, and indices, constitute the bulk of these datasets. Data for Switzerland contain information for all cantons for each decennial year from 1900 to 1960. Variables describe population characteristics, such as the age of men and women, county and commune of origin, ratio of foreigners to Swiss, percentage of the population from other countries such as Germany, Austria and Lichtenstein, Italy, and France, the percentage of the population that were Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, births, deaths, infant mortality rates, persons per household, population density, the percentage of urban and agricultural population, marital status, marriages, divorces, professions, factory workers, and primary, secondary, and university students. Economic variables provide information on the number of corporations, factory workers, economic status, cultivated land, taxation and tax revenues, canton revenues and expenditures, federal subsidies, bankruptcies, bank account deposits, and taxable assets. Additional variables provide political information, such as national referenda returns, party votes cast in National Council elections, and seats in the cantonal legislature held by political groups such as the Peasants, Socialists, Democrats, Catholics, Radicals, and others. Data for Canada provide information for all provinces for the decades 1900-1960 on population characteristics, such as national origin, the net internal migration per 1,000 of native population, population density per square mile, the percentage of owner-occupied dwellings, the percentage of urban population, the percentage of change in population from preceding censuses, the percentage of illiterate population aged 5 years and older, and the median years of schooling. Economic variables provide information on per capita personal income, total provincial revenue and expenditure per capita, the percentage of the labor force employed in manufacturing and in agriculture, the average number of employees per manufacturing establishment, assessed value of real property per capita, the average number of acres per farm, highway and rural road mileage, transportation and communication, the number of telephones per 100 population, and the number of motor vehicles registered per 1,000 population. Additional variables on elections and votes are supplied as well. Data for France provide information for all departements for all legislative elections since 1936, the two presidential elections of 1965 and 1969, and several referenda held in the period since 1958. Social and economic data are provided for the years 1946, 1954, and 1962, while various policy data are presented for the period 1959-1962. Variables provide information on population characteristics, such as the percentages of population by age group, foreign-born, bachelors aged 20 to 59, divorced men aged 25 and older, elementary school students in private schools, elementary school students per million population from 1966 to 1967, the number of persons in household in 1962, infant mortality rates per million births, and the number of priests per 10,000 population in 1946. Economic variables focus on the Gross National Product (GNP), the revenue per capita per household, personal income per capita, income tax, the percentage of active population in industry, construction and public works, transportation, hotels, public administration, and other jobs, the percentage of skilled and unskilled industrial workers, the number of doctors per 10,000 population, the number of agricultural cooperatives in 1946, the average hectares per farm, the percentage of farms cultivated by the owner, tenants, and sharecroppers, the number of workhorses, cows, and oxen per 100 hectares of farmland in 1946, and the percentages of automobiles per 1,000 population, radios per 100 homes, and cinema seats per 1,000 population. Data are also provided on the percentage of Communists (PCF), Socialists, Radical Socialists, Conservatives, Gaullists, Moderates, Poujadists, Independents, Turnouts, and other political groups and p

This poll, fielded October 10-13, 2008, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. This poll interviewed 1,070 adults nationwide, including 972 registered voters, about the way George W. Bush was handling the presidency and the economy, the condition of the national economy, and whether the country was moving in the right direction. Registered voters were asked how much attention they were paying to the 2008 presidential campaign, whether they had voted in a presidential primary or caucus that year, the likelihood that they would vote in the general election, and for whom they would vote if the general election were held that day. Views were sought on presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, the Democratic and Republican parties, and members of the United States Congress. A series of questions asked whether their opinions of the presidential candidates had changed in the past few weeks and whether anything about the candidates' background bothered them, including Obama's alleged association with Bill Ayers, a former member of the radical domestic group called the Weathermen, and McCain's involvement as one of the five senators known as the Keating Five in the savings and loan controversy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. All respondents were polled on whether they had watched the second presidential debate held October 7, 2008, who they thought won, and the likelihood that they would watch the next presidential debate on October 15, 2008. Additional topics addressed feelings about the economic bailout plan, concerns about job loss in the household, and whether their household income was sufficient to pay their bills. Those with a mortgage on their home were asked how concerned they were about not being able to pay it. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, marital status, household income, perceived social class, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, religious preference, frequency of religious attendance, and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian, and whether a child under 18 was living in the household.

This poll, fielded February 12-14, 2000, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President Bill Clinton and his handling of the presidency, foreign policy, and the economy. Views were sought on the condition of the national economy, the projected federal budget surplus, and the most important problem for the government to address in the coming year. Several questions asked how much attention respondents were paying to the 2000 presidential campaign, the likelihood that they would vote in the Republican or Democratic primary, which candidate they expected to win the nomination for each party, and for whom they would vote in the presidential primary and general election. Respondents were asked for their opinions of Republican presidential candidates George W. Bush, John McCain, and Alan Keyes, Democratic presidential candidates Al Gore and Bill Bradley, the main reason they held a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each candidate, and the importance of a candidate's personal qualities and position on issues. Opinions were also solicited of First Lady Hillary Clinton, former President George H.W. Bush, the Democratic, Republican, and Reform parties, and how well members of the United States Congress were handling their jobs. Additional topics included abortion, campaign finance reform, and the effect of elections on the federal government. Information was also collected on the importance of religion on respondents' lives, whether they had access to a computer, Internet access, and e-mail, whether they had served in the United States armed forces, and whether they had a child graduating high school in the class of 2000. Demographic variables include sex, race, age, marital status, household income, education level, religious preference, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter participation history and registration status, the presence of children and teenagers in the household, and type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural).

Voting precincts are the most granular spatial units for reporting election outcomes, whereas census geographies, such as block groups, census tracts, and ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs), are commonly used for publishing demographic, economic, health, and environmental data. This dataset bridges the two by reallocating precinct-level votes to standard census geographies through a systematic and replicable framework. The reallocation assumes that votes within each precinct are distributed proportionally to the household population. Household population counts from census block groups—the smallest census unit with regularly updated population estimates—are used to allocate votes to fractions created by the intersection of precinct and census boundaries. This process is implemented using three allocation strategies: areal weighting, impervious surface weighting, and Regionalized Land Cover Regression (RLCR). Results from all three methods are provided. Among these, the RLCR method demonstrates the highest accuracy based on validation against voter-level ground truth data and is recommended as the primary version for analysis. The alternative methods may serve as robustness checks or sensitivity tests. The dataset currently includes the 2016 and 2020 U.S. general elections and is designed for seamless integration with other datasets, such as the American Community Survey (ACS), CDC PLACES, or IRS Statistics of Income (SOI), via the GEOID field.

Supplementary Empirical Teaching Units in Political Science (SETUPS) for American Politics are computer-related modules designed for use in teaching introductory courses in American government and politics. The modules are intended to demonstrate the process of examining evidence and reaching conclusions and to stimulate students to independent, critical thinking and a deeper understanding of substantive content. They enable students with no previous training to make use of the computer to analyze data on political behavior or to see the results of policy decisions by use of a simulation model. The SETUPS: AMERICAN POLITICS modules were developed by a group of political scientists with experience in teaching introductory American government courses who were brought together in a workshop supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation in the summer of 1974. The American Political Science Association administered the grant, and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research was host to the workshop and provided data for most of the SETUPS. The modules were tested and evaluated during the 1974-1975 academic year by students and faculty in 155 classes at 69 universities and colleges. Appropriate revisions were made based upon this experience. This collection comprises 15 separate modules: (1) Political Socialization Across the Generations, (2) Political Participation, (3) Voting Behavior, The 1980 Election, (4) Elections and the Mass Media, (5) The Supreme Court in American Politics, Court Decisions, (6) The Supreme Court in American Politics, Police Interrogations, (7) The Dynamics of Political Budgeting, A Public Policy Simulation, State Expenditures, (8) The Dynamics of Political Budgeting, A Public Policy Simulation, SIMSTATE Simulation, (9) The Dynamics of Political Budgeting, A Public Policy Simulation, SIMSTATE II Simulation, (10) Fear of Crime, (11) Presidential Popularity in America, Presidential Popularity, (12) Presidential Popularity in America, Advanced Analyses, (13) Campaign '80, The Public and the Presidential Selection Process, (14) Voting Behavior, The 1976 Election, and (15) Policy Responsiveness and Fiscal Strain in 51 American Communities. Parts 8 and 9 are FORTRAN IV program SIMSTATE sourcedecks intended to simulate the interaction of state policies. Variables in the various modules provide information on respondents' level of political involvement and knowledge of political issues, general political attitudes and beliefs, news media exposure and usage, voting behavior (Parts 1, 2, and 3), and sectional biases (15). Other items provide information on respondents' views of government, politics, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter as presidents, best form of government, government spending (Part 3), local police, the Supreme Court (Parts 4 and 15), the economy, and domestic and foreign affairs. Additional items probed respondents' opinions of prayer in school, abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment Law, nuclear energy, and the most important national problem and the political party most suitable to handle it (Part 3). Also included are items on votes of Supreme Court judges (Part 5), arrest of criminal suspects and their treatment by law enforcement agencies (Part 6), federal government expenditures and budgeting (Part 7), respondents' feelings of safety at home, neighborhood crime rate, frequency of various kinds of criminal victimization, the personal characteristics of the targets of those crimes (Part 10), respondents' opinions of and choice of party presidential candidates nominees (Part 13), voter turnout for city elections (15), urban unrest, and population growth rate. Demographic items specify age, sex, race, marital status, education, occupation, income, social class identification, religion, political party affiliation, and union membership.

This poll, fielded October 25-29, 2008, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. This poll interviewed 1,439 adults nationwide, including 1,308 registered voters, about the way George W. Bush was handling the presidency, their financial situation compared to four years ago, whether the country was moving in the right direction, and the condition of the national economy. Registered voters were asked how much attention they were paying to the 2008 presidential campaign, whether they had voted in a Democratic or Republican primary or caucus that year, the likelihood that they would vote in the general election, for which presidential candidate they would vote, and whether they planned to vote in person on election day, by mail or absentee ballot, or at an early voting location. Those who had already voted were asked which presidential candidate they had voted for. Views were sought on presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, and whether the presidential candidates' choices for vice president would affect their vote. Respondents were also asked whether they had seen television commercials for the candidates, whether most people they knew would vote for a Black president, and whether race affected a person's chances of getting ahead in society. Additional topics addressed the Iraq war, how well the United States Congress and respondent's own representative were doing their jobs, which political party held a majority in the United States House of Representatives, and whether respondents would vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate from their district in the upcoming election. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, marital status, household income, perceived social class, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, military service, religious preference, frequency of religious attendance, and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian, and whether they had a child under 18 living in the household.

This poll, fielded July 2012, and the second of two, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Respondents were asked about the condition of the economy, and whether things in the country were on the right track. Opinions were collected on financial institutions and whether they favor large investors, as well as the likelihood of another financial crisis. Respondents were queried on unemployment, including who is to blame for the high unemployment rate and what will happen to the unemployment rate over the next few months. Several questions addressed modes of transportation, including which mode is the most cost-effective, is the safest, and which one respondents prefer for traveling long distances. Other questions addressed a variety of pop-culture and social issues, such as plants, live theater, traditions, national landmarks, abortion, and taxpayer's money. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, household income, social class, religious preference and participation, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians, marital status, household composition, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, voting behavior, and the number of phones in their household.

Age: 21-79. Multi-stage random sample of eligible voters

This poll, fielded March, 2012, and the first of two, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job as president, foreign policy, the economy, and the situation with Iran. Respondents were also asked about the condition of the economy, and whether things in the country were on the right track. Multiple questions addressed the 2012 Republican presidential candidates, including respondents' overall opinions of several of the candidates and their views, as well as their confidence in each candidate's ability to make the right decisions about the economy and health care, and ability to be an effective commander-in-chief of the nation's military. Further questions asked what issues and qualities were most important in deciding who to support for the Republican nomination, what topics they would like to hear the candidates discuss, and which candidate would have the best chance of winning against Barack Obama. Other topics include Iran, birth control, and gasoline. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, household income, social class, employment status, religious preference and participation, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians, marital status, household composition, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, voting behavior, and the number of phones in their household.

Onlinesurvey Self-administered questionnaire: CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interview)

The German Internet Panel (GIP) is an infrastructure project. The GIP serves to collect data about individual attitudes and preferences which are relevant for political and economic decision-making processes.

The questionnaire contains numerous experimental variations in the survey instruments. For more information, see the study documentation.

Topics: Social justice: success depends on hard work vs. luck; fairness in retaining earnings, even though some are richer than others; demand for greater redistribution of income by the state; market economy in Germany is social; demand for state measures to reduce income disparities; inheritance tax in Germany too low vs. too high; inheritance tax should be increased; development of global income inequality is to be viewed positively; rising incomes in emerging markets at the expense of the lower middle class in industrialized countries; personal benefit from globalization; opinion on the dependence of wages on effort respectively on productivity; most important argument for the introduction of a minimum wage; party preference (sunday question); assessment of the statements of the parties CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, Die Linke and AfD on the implementation of reforms as vague or accurate; left-right classification of the aforementioned parties; left-right self-classification; ideological position of the current Federal Constitutional Court or respectively of the Federal Government; consent to statements relating to the Federal Constitutional Court: demand for the dismissal of federal constitutional judges who are constantly deciding against the will of the majority of the population; federal constitutional judges, like politicians, are not relying on decisions in the best interests of the state; completely abolishing the Federal Constitutional Court in decisions without the consent of the majority of the population; excessive interference by the Federal Constitutional Court in politics; demand that the power of the Federal Constitutional Court be restricted to certain decisions; manipulation test of the ideological position of the current Federal Constitutional Court respectively of the Federal Government; knowledge test: knowledge of the parties represented in the Federal Government; assessment of the result of the coalition on a left-right scale due to the ideological placement of four hypothetical parties; evaluation of a fictitious trade agreement respectiveley an environmental agreement between the European Union and Australia (conditions: public access to information on each stage of the negotiations, no public access to information on the negotiations, only provision of the results after the negotiations have been concluded on the Internet); intention to vote AfD in the forthcoming Bundestag elections (Randomized-Response-Technique. List experiment); expected election result (percent of the second vote) of the AfD in the upcoming Bundestag election (open); preferred role of a party leader in the party; role of Martin Schulz as party leader of the SPD; evaluation of Martin Schulz´s competence as party leader of the SPD; percent threshold in local elections in the state of residence; participation in the last local elections; change of personal voting behaviour without a percent threshold in local elections (would have been more likely to vote for another party).

Demography (imported variables): sex; year of birth (categorised); highest educational degree; highest professional qualification; marital status; number of household members (household size); employment status; federal state; year of recruitment; german citizenship; private internet usage.

Additionally coded was: unique ID, GIP; household ID, GIP; person ID within the household; interview date; current online status; allocation to the experimental groups; questionnaire evaluation (interesting, varied, relevant, long, difficult, too personal); assessment of the survey in total.

In addition, the data set contains various time tracking variables (length of stay on different question pages and time stamp for the start and end of visiting different question pages).

Political attitudes and political participation in united Germany.

Cumulated data set from the data sets of two largely identical cross-section surveys at two different survey times in East and West Germany.

Topics: The questions listed below were posed in at least one survey: judgment on current general economic situation as well as economic situation in previous year; expected economic situation; personal economic situation; satisfaction with democracy; interest in politics; certainty of one´s own intent to participate in the election and one´s voting decision; voting behavior in previous Federal Parliament elections; manner of voting as absentee ballot or polling station; same voting decision after knowledge about results of election; party preference (Sunday question, second vote); most important reasons for dissatisfaction with the parties; coalition preference; responsivity: judgment on party politicians and their work as well as their relation with citizens (scale); power orientation of political parties; differences between the parties; too much influence of parties in society; corruption of parties and politicians; necessity of professional politicians; most important problems of the country; issue relevance and issue ability of the parties; attitude towards Politics and Society (scale: complexity of politics, the right to strike, proximity of politicians to citizens, possibilities of citizens to influence parties and government (efficacy), understanding of democracy); sympathy scale for CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP, Alliance 90/the Greens, Republicans and PDS; postmaterialism (Inglehart index); trust in institutions: trust in Federal Parliament, the Federal Constitutional Court, Federal Government, the judiciary, the police, administration, churches, parties, the Federal German Armed Forces; Chancellor preference; own political participation; self-classification on a left-right continuum; most important group or representation of interests; feeling of being represented in trade unions, employer´s federations, environmental protection groups and individual churches; judgment on parties in their proximity to trade unions, employer´s federations, environmental protection groups and individual churches; assessment of the parties in their proximity to the above organizations; media usage: reading local, regional and national daily newspapers; use of political broadcasts on television; assessment of fairness of the social system in the Federal Republic; own belonging to a disadvantaged or preferred population group in society; characterization of East Germans and West Germans (self-image, interpersonal perception, semantic differential); frequency of stay in the other part of Germany after unification; extremism scale: national pride, desired nationalization for private businesses, public good before special interests, American imperialism as danger to world peace, dictatorship as better type of state, good sides of National Socialism, exploitation of workers and third-world countries, Hitler and extermination of the Jews, foreign infiltration of the Federal Republic, GDR with more positive sides, multi-national marriages, influence of Jews too great, socialism as good idea, Jews as different and understanding for attacks on homes for applicants for political asylum.

Demography: sex; year of birth (age); religious denomination; frequency of church attendance; church ties of parental home; education and school degree; employment; involuntary change of job or unemployment since 1990; retirement from professional life since 1990; employment in the civil service; occupational status; marital status; characteristics of head of household; state of residence; length of residence in state; memberships in citizen initiative, party, professional organization or trade union; party inclination; significance of party inclination (scale); party identification; party inclination regarding western parties before the turning point (only posed in the East); number of persons contributing to the household income; net household income; self-assessment of social class and social class of parental home (social mobility); size of household; number of persons 16 years old and older in household.

Additionally coded: Date of interview of the first to third visit; identification of interviewer; size of municipality; start of interview; end of interview; number of contact attempts; east-west weight, weighting factors.

Political attitudes and judgement on parties as well as politicians.

The contents of the three surveys (ZA Study Nos. 1323 - 1325) are each divided in two, in a block of questions identical at all survey times and a further block specific to the respective wave.

Topics: 1. The part of the survey identical to all investigations: judgement on one´s own economic situation and that of the Federal Republic; political interest; most important political event; party inclination and party identification; most important political task in the Federal Republic and most able party; satisfaction with the government coalition (SPD/FDP) and the opposition (CDU/CSU); party preference (Sunday question, first vote and second vote) as well as certainty of one´s voting decision; self-classification and classification of the parties on a conservative-modern continuum; strength of the representation of personal political concepts in the individual parties; satisfaction with the political system in the FRG; behavior at the polls in the Federal Parliament election 1976; self-assessment of feeling of belonging to the group of Europeans, of Liberals, of Conservatives, of the Left, of Free Democrats, of Christian Democrats and of Social Democrats; approval of the FDP´s departure from the Federal Parliament and most important reasons for this; judgement on the freedom of decision for the FDP in the choice of coalition; party preference of spouse; size of municipality; characteristics of place of residence; date of interview; length of interview.

1. Beyond this the following questions were posed in this wave: judgement on party efforts for selected population groups; the positive and negative sides of the SPD, CDU/CSU and of the FDP; adequate consideration of more recent problem areas by the established parties (protest potential); desire for further parties; attitude to separation of CDU and CSU as well as to a nation-wide expansion of the CSU; contacts with authorities and officials; judgement on the last contact with authorities; judgement on the efforts of the government for greater populism; expected opportunities for the parties to influence the government´s populism; the party making the strongest efforts for populism; personal opinion allegiance and frequency of seeking advice; party preference of opinion leader; reliable sources and conversation partner in the search for information on political questions; personal intent to participate in the election and party preference at the state level (Sunday question).

Demography: age; sex; marital status; religious denomination; frequency of church attendance; school education; occupational position; employment; number of recipients of income; household income; characteristics of spouse; position in household; household size; household composition; respondent is head of household; characteristics of head of household; self-assessment of social class;

Interviewer rating: length of interview; date.

This poll, the first of three fielded October 2012, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Respondents were asked how likely it was that they would vote in the 2012 presidential election, whether they thought presidential campaigns were too long, whether they thought the 2012 campaign was more positive than previous campaigns, whether they thought there were too many political ads on television during the presidential campaigns, how much they trusted the accuracy of the political ads, how much influence the political ads had on their vote for president, and how effective they thought negative political ads were. Opinions were also sought about former President Bill Clinton, including whether respondents had a favorable opinion of him, whether their opinion of him was better at the time of the survey than when he was in office, and whether they would like to see Clinton serve another term as president if there were not a two-term limit. A number of questions were also asked about humor and entertainment. Finally, respondents were asked when they last voted in an election, whether they knew when they last registered to vote, how long they had lived at their current address, and whether they supported the Tea Party movement. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, social class, marital status, household makeup, education level, household income, employment status, religious preference, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, whether respondents are currently registered to vote, and whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians.

This poll, fielded October 2011, and the second of three, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Opinions were sought about how well Barack Obama was handling the presidency, foreign policy, the economy, the situation in Iraq, and job creation. Further questions were asked about the state of the national economy, various tax cuts and regulations, job creation, the Affordable Care Act, and the most important problem facing the nation. Respondents were asked whether the country was headed in the right direction, whether Congress was performing their job well, how Republicans and Democrats were handling job creation, whether Obama or the Republicans favored a certain social class, whether respondents trusted the government, and whether respondents supported the Tea Party movement and/or Occupy Wall Street movement. Respondents were also queried about how much attention they were paying to the 2012 campaign, whether they planned to vote in a 2012 primary or caucus, and for their opinions of various Republican candidates, such as Mitt Romney. Additional topics included unemployment and unemployment benefits, job searches, and problems resulting from being unemployed. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, marital status, education level, household income, personal finances, perceived social class, employment status, religious preference, whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, voting behavior, military service, number of phones, and household composition.

This poll is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President Bill Clinton and his handling of the presidency, foreign policy, and the economy, as well as their views on First Lady Hillary Clinton and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. Those queried were asked for their opinions on the recent Chinese aggression against Taiwan, including Clinton's response, the use of United States troops to maintain peace, the presence of United States vital interests in Taiwan, and whether Clinton had a clear policy for handling the situation. The 1996 presidential election was also addressed, with questions comparing Clinton and Dole in the areas of leadership skills, integrity, experience, innovativeness, and political agendas. In addition, respondents were asked to consider the past, present, and future state of their economic and employment security. A series of questions was posed regarding the Whitewater investigation, including the role of the Clintons, national media attention paid to the scandal, and whether the hearings and investigations were warranted. The suspension by the National Basketball Association of Denver Nuggets player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf for his refusal to stand during the playing of the national anthem was also addressed. Additional topics covered legal immigration, reform of the tax system, respondents' hopes for future generations, and alternative medicine. Demographic variables include age, race, education, sex, religion, family income, political party, political orientation, economic class, marital status, labor union membership, demographics of the respondent's local community, voter registration and participation history, ownership of publicly-traded stock, and ownership of a small business.