In this thesis, a content analysis method is used to assess the denotation of sustainable development for the economic and political system. The data obtained support the assumption that sustainable development has different meanings for different actors and systems. Due to its internal operations and codes, economics focuses specifically on the combination of the efficiency strategy and sustainable development. Furthermore, a large online survey was conducted by means of the semantic differential technique to determine the connotation of sustainable development. It revealed several interesting results, one of which was that the connotation differs with the degree of familiarity with the concept. Based on the data from the two studies, the assumptions above are confirmed and discussed in detail by means of the economic system.