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Wahlstudien

Politbarometer (1977 onwards)

The "Politbarometer" surveys are performed since 1977 at about monthly intervals by the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen (Institute for election research) for the ZDF (Second German TV network). Since 1990 it is also available for the newly formed German states. 

They are intended to poll the opinions and attitudes of eligible Germans with regard to current events and issues as well as to political parties and individual politicians. The data from all polls per year is integrated, documented and archived in one cumulative data record at the GESIS Archive.

The data and documents from the annual cumulations from 1977 onwards are available online via the GESIS Search for further analytical research.  

Politbarometer time series from 1977 onwards

Apart from the annual cumulations, which include all polls and every variable from the respective year, there is also a time series. Its data set is based on a selection of variables comparable over the entire period from1977 onwards.

Most recent data

  • Politbarometer 2022 available (ZA7970)
  • Politbarometer 2021 available (ZA7856)
  • Partial cumulation 1977-2021 (ZA2391)
  • Politbarometer 2020 available (ZA7753)

This cumulated data set comprises the results of all monthly polls conducted in one year. All variables used during that particular year are reflected in the data.

  • From 1990 through 1995 and since 1999 the Politbarometer surveys were conducted separately in the "New" and "Old" German States ("Politbarometer East" and "Politbarometer West" ).

  • From 2003 until now Politbarometer Short Polls, which are conducted differently often in a year, were integrated in the annual cumulation.
  • Politbarometer polls additionally designated as Election Surveys in the study overview are part of the "German elections" database.

Recent annual cumulation

The cumulative file Politbarometer 2022 (ZA7970) is the most recent Politbarometer data set.

Data access

  • GESIS search: free of charge download of Politabrometer data sets and documentation released since 1977 for scientific usage

  • Registration: For downloading data, you need to sign in with user name (e-mail address) and password. New users have to register first. Registration is free of charge.

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