c) Most politicians do not care about the people. [Die meisten Politikerinnen und Politiker kümmern sich nicht um das Volk.]

Ja

Six respondents “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree”, while five respondents “somewhat disagree” with this item. Three respondents “neither disagree nor agree” (ID 03, 08, 11) and two respondents (ID 01, 13) answer “don’t know”.

Respondent 01 explains her answer of “don’t know” with her lack of interest in politics and because she doesn’t know any politicians personally – and therefore cannot judge them. For this very same reason she also answers “don’t know” on item d). Respondent 13 would answer this item differently depending on whether the item is about politicians on the communal or federal level. As this is not specified in the item, she cannot answer this item (as well as item d)).

One of the three respondents who „neither agrees nor disagrees“ (ID 08) highlights the same argument and states that they cannot answer the item as they do not know any politicians personally. Therefore, this respondent uses the answer category of “neither agree nor disagree” as a “don’t know” answer (see findings item a). The other two respondents (ID 03, 11) partially agree and partially disagree with the statement (“At first they say they will raise the retirement pensions, and shortly after that you have to work longer. They care and then don’t care after all.”, ID 11)

Those six respondents who agree with the statement explain that they are wary of politicians, as they primarily think of their own interests and do not take into account the will of the people outside of electoral campaigns:

• “We might be allowed to vote regularly, but when it comes to topics that really are important, then groups of people decide who might not even be affected by it and there are no referendums.” (ID 02)
• “It seems to me as though first of all, they look out for themselves. Initially, it doesn’t matter what the people want. They don’t ask us, they deal with it among themselves.” (ID 04))
• “As of late I always think of lobbying when it comes to politicians. Or when you think of their pay raise, you get the feeling it overlooks the people and is only egoistical.” (ID 07)

On the other hand, those five respondents who do not agree with the statement have a positive attitude towards politicians and trust most of them:

• “At the moment I occasionally get the feeling that there are isolated incidents where they care more about their own interests. But I would say those are exceptions. Really, I have confidence in politics.” (ID 05)
• “I think that there are many who are very dedicated and who do care within their abilities. Of course there are some black sheep, as is always the case.” (ID 12)

Finally, the respondents were asked how they understood the phrase „sich um das Volk kümmern” (“care about the people“). Two kinds of interpretations emerge: Ten respondents think “caring about the people” means taking into account the will of the people (“Listening to the people, asking the people for their opinion. Responding to what the people want.”, respondent 04), whereas the remaining six respondents think of the preservation and enhancement of the welfare state (“To make sure, that the welfare state is maintained and performs as intended. For example, consider the pension system, where the inter-generation contract cannot be upheld. Or health insurance, taking steps to improve employee rights, and so on.”, ID 07).

Due to the finding that the phrase „sich um das Volk kümmern” (“care about the people“) is interpreted differently by different respondents, we recommend to modify the item:

"Most politicians are indifferent to the people’s opinion."
[„Den meisten Politikerinnen und Politikern ist die Meinung des Volkes gleichgültig.“]