CCS is conducted in modules that are in the field for about 6 years. The comparative dataset is produced by FORS and distributed by SWISSUbase.
The dataset includes, among others, the following core variables:
Administrative/technical variables: country; year of election; start/duration of fieldwork; constituency; did the candidate get elected; mode of survey administration.
Political background and activities: party for which the respondent stood as a candidate; year in which the candidate joined this party; did the respondent stand as candidate for other parties in previous elections; respondent stood as a candidate/was elected in most/2nd most/3rd most/earlier than the 3rd most recent national election; worked for the party; member of association; held local party office/regional party office/national party office; served as mayor; served as member of local/regional government; served as member of a local/regional/European parliament; respondent lives in the constituency; for how many years; hours devoted to party activities in an average week.
Campaigning: was the respondent encouraged to stand as candidate; contestation of the nomination; decision about the nomination (who, at what level); importance of various campaign activities/campaign means; primary aim of campaign; campaign budget; contribution by the party/from donations/from own private funds.
Issues and policies: most and second most important problem of country today; opinion on a range of political issues; left-right scale: location of own views/own party/own party’s voters; opinion on European unification.
Democracy and representation: satisfaction with the way democracy works in the country/in the EU; how well do elections ensure that the views of MPs accurately reflect the views of voters; who should an MP represent in parliament; opinion on democratic decision-making/democracy in own country.
Personal background of the candidate: gender; year of birth; citizenship at birth; type of residential community; level of education; employment status; current/previous occupation; frequency of church attendance; religious belief; marital status; number of children in care; meaning of the terms "left" and "right".
The cumulative CCS datasets are available on the online data repository SWISSUbase. If you are not already registered with SWISSUbase, click here to register. After logging in and arriving at the CCS catalogue page, click on the tab “Datasets”, then choose the cumulative dataset you wish to download and finally click on the “Start download” button in the upper right corner. After submitting your application, your request will first need to be approved by the CCS data access committee (usually within 1-2 business days). Once approved, you will be able to access the data immediately and free of charge on SWISSUbase. Please do not hesitate to contact dataservice@fors.unil.ch if you have any questions or remarks concerning the data access.