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

选举制度比较研究 (CSES) 调查不同国家选举设计和实践的差异如何影响这些国家的个人的思维和行为。 2014 年，民主国家数量是二十年前的两倍。 CSES 处于研究这一前所未有的持续民主化浪潮的有利位置。 CSES 项目为 60 多个国家的社会科学研究工作提供协调和领导，并已成为此类研究最著名的数据资源。该项目向公众免费传播其所有数据，并被数千名科学家、学生、政策制定者、记者和公民使用。CSES 按模块安排。 每个模块都是关于科学兴趣的重要主题的调查问卷，该主题由研究界确定并由项目合作者选择。这些调查问卷包含在世界各国大选时进行的高质量、代表性调查中。 每个模块的实施期限为五年，在此期间每个国家至少纳入一次全国选举。 目前的建议是完成 CSES 第四个模块的活动，并规划和设计第五个模块。CSES 涉及美国和国际上 200 多名学者的合作，促进对选举、投票选择、投票率以及公民对民主和政治的态度等持久和基本问题的理解。这一独特研究项目的目标是了解社会、政治和经济如何塑造公民的信仰和行为，检查和比较各国民主和选举的性质和质量，了解不同背景、生活在不同政治安排下的群体如何与民主机构互动。CSES 收集每个国家的调查数据，以及有关该国社会、政治和经济状况的背景信息。 CSES 设计、接收、清理、检查和合并所有这些数据，将它们组合成一个数据集，以便进行跨国家比较。 所有数据都可以通过项目网站立即免费获取。 对于全世界的研究人员来说，这是一种独特的资源，这反映在使用这些数据的出版物数量庞大且不断增长。CSES 数据有助于研究对美国国家政策至关重要的问题，这是其他数据集无法实现的。 它鼓励围绕民主、政治和社会科学问题进行国际合作。该项目是研究发展中民主国家和建设科学能力的独特资源。 CSES 广泛用于通过大学课程培训学生，学生定期担任该项目的研究助理。基于 CSES 的研究提供了关于民主制度如何实际运作的不可或缺的见解，并有助于关于不同选举制度的优点和缺点的辩论。

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.