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c.) Germany, as a member of international organizations, should generally comply with their decisions, even if the German government does not consider the decision to be correct. [Deutschland sollte im Allgemeinen als Mitglied internationaler Organisationen deren Entscheidungen befolgen, selbst wenn die deutsche Regierung die Entscheidung nicht für richtig hält.] |
Nein |
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d.) International organizations take too much power away from the German government. [Internationale Organisationen nehmen der deutschen Regierung zu viel Macht weg.] |
Nein |
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Four test subjects answer "Don't know" in this statement. Of these, two test persons (TP 01, TP 11) state that they do not have the knowledge to answer this question. The other two subjects (TP 09, TP 10) justify their answer by stating that it is unclear to them which organizations are meant in the statement:
- „Which organisations are being considered here? The European Community can also be seen as an organisation and I think that Germany has gained power.“ (TP 09)
- „Because simply 'international organisations' is too vague. International organisations can be the ECB, the UN, and I cannot grasp what is behind them. When it comes to Europeanisation, I would say 'agree completely', but that is not defined here.“ (TP 10)
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e.) I feel more like a citizen of the world and thus connected to the world at large and less like a citizen of a particular country. [Ich fühle mich eher als Weltbürger und somit verbunden mit der Welt insgesamt und weniger als Bürger eines bestimmten Landes.] |
Nein |
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The test persons use the full range of scales.
The term "citizen of the world" is misinterpreted by three test persons in the sense of "multicultural society" or "world population" or understood as if one had a responsibility as a German to inform oneself about world events and to engage in civic engagement:
- „The world has become our guest and part of our lives in so many different ways that I think I can see myself more connected to the world.“ (TP 12)
- „All people on planet earth, everyone who lives here on earth is a citizen of the world.“ (TP 18)
- „All in all, I think that here in Germany I am also part of a whole, i.e. part of the whole world and therefore also responsible for the whole world. All in all, as a German I feel an obligation to the whole world and I'm not sitting here and I don't care what happens in Timbuktu.“ (TP 20)
With three other test persons it remains unclear whether they understood the term "citizen of the world" in the intended, i.e. cosmopolitan, sense or not. Two of these test persons (TP 06, TP 13) associate the term with a geographical rather than an emotional connection. Moreover, they feel the term to be too vague or too broad and reinterpret the statement for themselves by replacing the term "citizen of the world" with "European:
- „I have transferred it to the EU for me because I think it is even more tangible. In any case, I feel as a European and would not say that German interests are above everything. As a citizen of the world it is of course more difficult, because there are already great cultural differences [...].“ (TP 06)
- „I feel like a European. Citizen of the world is a great concept. I don't feel like African, Chinese or Indian.“ (TP 13)
The third respondent (TP 03) justifies her answer ("Agree") with her migrant background, which means that she is to a certain extent always between two countries and does not feel connected to only one country.
Since five of the six test persons who misinterpret the statement or with whom it remains unclear whether they have understood the item in the intended sense agree with the statement or answer "neither nor", there is a risk that this misinterpretation leads to a distortion of the answers and that the proportion of those who actually feel like "citizens of the world" is overestimated. |
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a.) Immigrants increase the crime rate. [Zuwanderer erhöhen die Kriminalitätsrate.] |
Nein |
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b.) Immigrants are generally good for the German economy. [Zuwanderer sind im Allgemeinen gut für die deutsche Wirtschaft.] |
Nein |
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A total of five test persons stated that they could not answer item b) ("Don't know"). Four of these five test persons have difficulties with the interpretation of the term "immigrant", which they find too imprecise: "immigrant" is too general a term, one has to distinguish between different groups of immigrants. The following two quotations illustrate this problem:
- „Depending on what kind of immigrants. 200,000 Spaniards with a degree, some training, that's an asset. But when 200,000 unemployed people come from Bulgaria who have no school education, then there is a lack of quality and that is not an enrichment, not even for the German economy. I cannot say, I do not know who is immigrating.“ (TP 09)
- „I can't tell you at all, because I don't know. Because the term "immigrant" is too vague for me. Are they legal or illegal immigrants? All illegals are bad for us. We needed them, we got them. But illegals are first of all a cost factor.“ (TP 12)
The same difficulties with the general concept of "immigrants" arise - albeit to a lesser extent - in answering items (a) and (c). Here are two examples:
- „The collective term of immigrants is the problem, some groups are like that, others are not. This cannot be said per se.“ (TP 10, Item a))
- „How? That's nonsense [...] If a mechanical engineer comes from Spain, speaks perfect English and wants his 2,000 euros and I want my 4,000, then my job is taken away. It's true. It depends on the qualification. With a high qualification: yes. But there is also the other side.“ (TP 09, Item c))
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c.) Immigrants take jobs away from people who were born in Germany. [Zuwanderer nehmen Menschen, die in Deutschland geboren sind, Arbeitsplätze weg.] |
Nein |
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d.) Immigrants enrich Germany with new ideas and cultures. [Zuwanderer bereichern Deutschland durch neue Ideen und Kulturen.] |
Nein |
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e.) German culture is generally undermined by immigrants. [Die deutsche Kultur wird im Allgemeinen von Zuwanderern untergraben.] |
Nein |
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Most of the test persons do not agree or do not agree at all with this statement. Only two test persons answer "agree".
The term "undermining culture" is interpreted correctly by 18 of the 20 test persons, i.e. in the sense that immigrants represent a threat or danger to the continued existence of German culture or that German culture can be lost through immigration. These 18 test persons also correctly interpret item e) as the opposite pole to item d) ("Immigrants affect Germany...").
Four of the 18 test persons associate the term with the "active" repression or destruction of German culture:
- „There are immigrants who undermine German culture. There are those who come to us and don't want to allow us to live out our culture, for example by removing crucifixes from classrooms. It's not possible!" (TP 04)
- „I don't see how German culture is undermined by immigrants. It may be that the immigrants do not want to accept German culture, but I think that is perfectly fine, because they have their own culture. I also did not want to give up all my rights when I go to an Islamic country. I understood the question as if German culture would be destroyed to a certain ex- tent by immigration. And I do not think that.“ (TP 07)
The other 14 test persons rather think of a "passive" disappearance or getting lost of the German culture, which - if at all - could happen due to the lack of interest of the Germans in preserving their own culture:
- „If we Germans cultivate our culture, then I see no problem.“ (TP 05)
- „Our culture becomes richer by coming into contact with other cultures, and so each culture can develop further, and it is more likely to become an international culture if it mixes. I don't think that the Germans will lose their own culture because of that.“ (TP 06)
- „In big cities it looks like this. If there is a kebab stand on every corner, it looks like German culture is getting lost. If you go out a little bit, then you see German culture again. For me it has not been lost. You have to drive down the German wine street and then you have the German culture again.“(TP 09)
- „I am undecided whether we as Germans allow our culture to be undermined. We must see for ourselves that we uphold our culture. If we uphold our own culture, no matter what one understands by it, religion, education and whatever belongs to culture, this cannot be undermined either.” (TP 15)
Two test persons (TP 11, TP 18) seem to have interpreted the term "undermining culture" not in the intended sense but only as "non-adaptation" to German culture. For both of them it remains unclear whether this "non-adaptation" has a direct effect on the continued existence of German culture or not:
- „I have now seen it in such a way that they do not adapt to our culture. They don't have to go to religious instruction. And if I go abroad, nobody will build churches, we'll build mosques here. If they are here and want to live here, then they just have to adapt.“ (TP 11)
- „That depends. Where I live, there are people who make their own culture, they raise their own culture. A different culture is opened up in the middle of Germany, they don't fit in at all. None of them learn German, they only speak Albanian and open up their own culture, it's not possible. And then there are groups who speak German and adapt to the German conditions. I don't have to adapt to them, they have to adapt to me, they come here. Many adapt, some do not adapt at all.“ (TP 18)
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f.) Persons without German citizenship who came to Germany legally should have the same rights as German citizens. [Personen ohne deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit, die legal nach Deutschland gekommen sind, sollten die gleichen Rechte haben wie deutsche Staatsangehörige.] |
Nein |
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g.) Germany should take harder measures to ward off illegal immigrants. [Deutschland sollte härtere Maßnahmen ergreifen, um illegale Zuwanderer abzuwehren.] |
Nein |
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