CSES Blog
Party-switching Between Elections is Influenced by Polarization, not the Number of Parties
Party-switching Between Elections is Influenced by Polarization, not the Number of Parties Yves Dejaeghere and Ruth Dassonneville In 1979 Mogens Pedersen published a seminal paper in which he analyzed the impact of party-system variables on inter-electoral volatility. By means of an analysis of aggregate data from over 100 elections, he concluded that the number of parties increases volatility. Although Pedersen tested his hypothesis with the best data available at the time, they were actually not ideal to do so, as he indicated himself that his hypotheses implied ‘a test on the basis of individual level data’ (Pedersen, …
Read MorePost-election Survey 2016 in Slovakia: Manifolds Challenges to Voters’ Memory
Postcard from the Field Post-election Survey 2016 in Slovakia: Manifolds Challenges to Voters’ Memory Olga Gyarfasova This is the first of our Postcards from the Field series. CSES collaborators provide an update and commentary on election studies recently in the field. In general, election results are getting more and more unexpected. It is due to growing voters’ volatility, increasing portion of late-deciders, or changes on the political scene (e.g. due to the formation of new parties). High electoral volatility is further catalyzed by social media channels that have proven to be extremely effective in generating quick though often short-lived voter …
Read MoreThe Tough Decision to Remove Political Knowledge from the CSES Module 5
The Tough Decision to Remove Political Knowledge from the CSES Module 5 By Elisabeth Gidengil and Elizabeth Zechmeister Political information questions will be absent from the CSES core module for the first time with the 5th installment of the CSES module. The CSES Planning Committee’s Political Knowledge Subcommittee[1] reached this decision despite shared agreement that political knowledge is a venerated workhorse in the field of voter choice. Differences exist among those high and low in political knowledge in numerous domains, such as economic voting behavior and the use of heuristic aids in voting decisions (though exceptions exist). Given the significance of this …
Read MoreDoes Space Matter? Explaining Abstention because of Indifference and Alienation
Does Space Matter? Explaining Abstention because of Indifference and Alienation Toni Rodon ICYMI (In Case You Missed It), the following work was presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA). The presentation, “Does Space Matter? Explaining Abstention because of Indifference and Alienation”, was part of a session dedicated to research using Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) data. The session, “Comparative Perspectives on Political Behaviour: Novel insights using the CSES”, was on September 4, 2016. The concept of the ‘centre’ is overwhelmingly present in current political discourse. Labelling a candidate or party as left, right …
Read MoreAnnouncing CSES Module 5
Announcing CSES Module 5: Democracy Divided? People, Politicians and the Politics of Populism Post prepared by John Aldrich, David Howell, and Stephen Quinlan The Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) project is delighted to announce the launch of its fifth module, designed on the theme of Democracy Divided? People, Politicians and the Politics of Populism. The CSES Module 5 questionnaire will be included in national post-election surveys around the world during the years 2016 through 2021. CSES Module 5 was discussed, revised, and approved during a Plenary Session of CSES collaborators which was held in August 2016 in Philadelphia, United States, just before …
Read MoreWhen do the Rich Vote Less than the Poor and Why? Explaining Turnout Inequality Across the World
The 2016 GESIS Klingemann Prize for the Best Scholarship using CSES data was awarded to Kimuli Kasara of Columbia University and Pavithra Suryanarayan of Johns Hopkins University for their paper “When do the rich vote less than the poor and why? Explaining turnout inequality across the world” that was published in the American Journal of Political Science in 2015. The authors received the prize and presented their work during a reception at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA) in Philadelphia, USA on September 2, 2016. They kindly contributed the following synopsis of their work. When do the Rich Vote Less than the Poor and Why? Explaining …
Read MoreIntroducing Ainė Ramonaitė from the Lithuanian National Election Study
This is the first of our Collaborator Introduction series, where CSES collaborators discuss their research agenda and how they became involved with CSES. Lithuania is Joining the CSES Project Ainė Ramonaitė Lithuania is joining the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) collaborative program of research by integrating the CSES Module 5 in their 2016 post-election survey. Lithuania has not been represented in the CSES project since Module 1. Lithuania was invited to join the CSES for Module 5 after a successful collaboration with CSES members in the True European Voter COST Action. The first Lithuanian National Election Study was carried out in 2012 …
Read MoreCSES at APSA 2016
Are you attending the 2016 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA) in Philadelphia during September 1-4? If so, you may be interested to attend one or more of the below presentations and panels which make use of CSES data. If you are making a presentation which makes use of CSES data and it does not appear here, please let us know via email to: [email protected] THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 Panel: Get it Right the First Time: Preferences for Leader Responsiveness and Reform Thursday September 1st, 8:00 to 9:30am, Marriott, Salon I Presentation: The Impact of Electoral- & Party-systems …
Read MoreNew research synopsis: Do citizens value fairness in the electoral competition?
Do citizens value fairness in the electoral competition? Benjamin Ferland Do citizens value fairness in the electoral competition? This is a central question that has interested scholars over the last decade. As we know, proportional electoral (PR) systems favour a more accurate translation of votes into seats while majoritarian systems have the tendency to “waste” the votes of many citizens. Inter alia, therefore, proportional representation electoral systems have the benefit of representing the voice of more citizens in legislatures and in the policy-making process. Scholars have thus assumed that citizens also share and even support this view of inclusiveness in …
Read MoreCSES: A Short History and New Challenges
CSES: a short history and new challenges Jacques Thomassen The launch of the new Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) blog is a perfect occasion to reflect upon CSES’ 22 years history and its future challenges. CSES was a joint initiative of the established election studies in a number of European countries, since 1989 joined in ICORE, and the American National Election Studies. It was kicked off in a memorable conference in Berlin in 1994. The pièce de résistance at this meeting was a stimulus paper written by representatives from the established election studies in Western Europe and the …
Read MoreAbout the CSES blog
Welcome to the new blog of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) project! Through the blog, we are excited to provide a different glimpse into the work of the CSES project and its many associated scholars and broad user community. Through the blog you’ll be able to discover research that uses CSES data, learn about our election study collaborators that are located around the world, get updates on data collection from the field, read about and discuss national elections, and receive updates about CSES and the world of comparative academic social science research more generally. We hope you enjoy the blog! …
Read MoreNew Data Bridging page describes how to merge data from CSES to data from 18 other comparative research projects
We have added a new Data Bridging page that describes how to merge data from CSES to data from 18 other comparative research projects.
A (wo)man’s party: understanding ‘gender gaps’ in vote choice
The 2020 GESIS Klingemann Prize for the Best CSES Scholarship was awarded to Eelco Harteveld of the University of Amsterdam, Stefan Dahlberg of the University of Gothenburg, Andrej Kokkonen of Aarhus University, and Wouter Van Der Brug of the University of Amsterdam,...
CSES Announcement: Winner of the 2020 GESIS Klingemann Prize for the Best CSES Scholarship
Note: The following announcement was sent to the CSES email list. To receive notices like this one by email, please join our mailing list. August 7, 2020 Dear Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) user community, We are extremely pleased to announce...
CSES Announcement: Call for Module 6 questions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic
Note: The following announcement was sent to the CSES email list. To receive notices like this one by email, please join our mailing list. The Planning Committee of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) is currently working towards finalizing the proposed...
CSES Announcement: CSES Module 5 Second Advance Release is now available for download
Note: The following announcement was sent to the CSES email list. To receive notices like this one by email, please join our mailing list. The Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) project is pleased to announce the Second Advance Release of the CSES Module 5...
CSES Announcement: Nominations are now being accepted for the 2020 GESIS Klingemann Prize for the Best CSES Scholarship
Note: The following announcement was sent to the CSES email list. To receive notices like this one by email, please join our mailing list. The Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) and the GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences are pleased to...
An updated version of the CSES Integrated Module Dataset (IMD) is now available
We are delighted to announce the release of Phase II of the CSES Integrated Module Dataset (IMD), which is now available for download on the CSES website (www.cses.org). The IMD is a product of the CSES Secretariat and brings together select variables from CSES...
Gender, Political Knowledge, and Descriptive Representation: The Impact of Long-Term Socialization
The 2019 GESIS Klingemann Prize for the Best CSES Scholarship was awarded to Ruth Dassonneville of the University of Montreal and Ian McAllister of the Australian National University for their article "Gender, Political Knowledge, and Descriptive Representation: The...
The Election Studies table and the Variable Tables have been updated.
The Election Studies table and the Variable Tables have been updated. The Election Studies table now includes an additional column for Module 5 studies and is correct up to and including Module 5 Advance Release 1. The Variable Tables have been updated significantly...
CSES Announcement: Special 25th Anniversary Events at APSA
Dear CSES user community, As you may know, this year (2019) is the 25th anniversary of the CSES project. In celebration, we have produced a special logo which you can view on the project website, organized scholarly panels at multiple conferences worldwide, and...