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

选举制度比较研究(CSE)调查了不同国家在选举设计和实践方面的差异如何影响这些国家的个人想法和行为。2014年，民主国家的数量是20年前的两倍。CSE处于有利地位，可以研究这场史无前例的、持续的民主化浪潮。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，并已将自己确立为这类研究最知名的数据来源。该项目免费向公众传播所有数据，数千名科学家、学生、政策制定者、记者和公民正在使用该项目。CSES按模块排列。每个单元都是关于一个重要的科学兴趣主题的调查问卷，该主题由研究界确定并由项目合作者选择。这些问卷包括在世界各国举行全国选举时进行的具有代表性的高质量调查中。每个模块的有效期为五年，以便在此期间每个国家至少举行一次全国选举。目前的建议是完成CSE第四模块的活动，并规划和设计第五模块。CSE通过美国和国际上200多名学者的合作，促进了对选举、投票选择、投票率以及公民对民主和政治态度等持久和根本性问题的理解。这个独特的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，并了解不同背景和生活在不同政治安排下的群体如何与民主制度互动。CSES收集每个国家的调查数据，以及关于该国社会、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，将它们合并到一个允许跨国家进行比较的数据集。然后，所有数据都可以通过项目网站立即免费提供。对于世界各地的研究人员来说，这是一种独特的资源，这反映在使用这些数据的大量且不断增加的出版物中。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做到的。它鼓励围绕民主、政治和社会科学问题的国际合作。该项目是研究和建设发展中民主国家科学能力的独特资源。CSES被广泛用于通过大学课程对学生进行培训，学生定期担任该项目的研究助理。基于CSES的研究为民主机构实际如何运作提供了不可或缺的见解，并有助于就不同选举制度的优劣进行辩论。

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.