The Fifth Module of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

The Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) investigates how differences in the design and practice of elections in different countries affect how individuals in those countries think and behave. In 2014, twice as many countries are democracies than just two decades ago. The CSES is well positioned to study this unprecedented and continuing wave of democratization. The CSES project provides coordination and leadership for the social science research efforts of over 60 nations, and has established itself as the most-well known data resource for this type of research. The project disseminates all of its data for free to the public, and is being used by thousands of scientists, students, policy makers, journalists, and citizens. CSES is arranged according to modules. Each module is a questionnaire on an important topic of scientific interest, a topic identified by the research community and selected by project collaborators. The questionnaires are included in high quality, representative surveys that are conducted at the time of national elections in countries around the world. Each module is in place for five years, to incorporate at least one national election in each country during the time span. The current proposal is to complete the activities of the fourth module of the CSES, and to plan and design the fifth module. Involving the collaboration of more than 200 scholars in the United States and internationally, CSES advances the understanding of enduring and fundamental questions about elections, vote choice, turnout, and citizens' attitudes about democracy and politics. The goals of this unique research program are to understand how society, politics, and economics shape the beliefs and behaviors of citizens, to examine and compare the nature and quality of democracy and elections across countries, and to understand how groups with different backgrounds, and living under different political arrangements, interact with democratic institutions. CSES collects survey data from each country, as well as background information about the social, political, and economic conditions in the country. CSES designs, receives, cleans, checks, and merges all of these data, combining them into a single dataset which allows for comparison across countries. All of the data are then made freely and immediately available via the project website. This is a unique resource for researchers worldwide, and that is reflected in the large and growing number of publications that make use of the data. CSES data help in examining issues that are crucial to national policy in the United States, in a way that is not possible with other datasets. It encourages international cooperation around issues of democracy, politics, and social science. The project is a unique resource in studying, and building scientific capacity in, developing democracies. CSES is widely used in training students through university coursework, and students regularly serve as research assistants for the project. CSES-based research provides indispensable insight on how democratic institutions actually work and contributes to the debate about the virtues and vices of different electoral systems.