In person icon The Comparative Candidate Study at Twenty - Novel Insights into Campaigns and Candidate Behaviour and the Increasing Challenges of Conducting Elite Level Research.

Abstract

The Comparative Candidate Survey (CCS) celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025. This remarkable international project has employed a common core questionnaire to survey parliamentary candidates across multiple elections in over 30 countries over the past two decades. This panel presents four papers that highlight the diverse range of research enabled by this rich and unique dataset. The papers are unified by their methodological insights into the (ever-increasing) challenges of conducting elite level research. Paper 1 examines data from elections in nine countries since 2019 to explore the experiences of candidates with immigrant backgrounds. It focuses on their campaigning styles, issue preferences, and representational priorities. The paper investigates whether differences in these areas are primarily influenced by immigrant origin or can be better explained by other factors, such as party affiliation, personal characteristics (intersectionality), or career stage. Paper 2 utilizes the full CCS database to examine the experiences of candidates who lose in general elections, focusing on whether electoral defeat impacts female and male candidates differently. By integrating candidate psychological data with gender, the paper investigates whether the (negative) experiences of the campaign process disproportionately affects female candidates, potentially discouraging them from running again. Paper 3 analyses data from 40 elections across more than 20 countries to examine the growing digitalization of political campaigns. It investigates variations in digitalization across candidates, countries, parties, time periods, and institutional contexts, offering insights into why some political actors are more willing to embrace the wave of campaign digitalization than others. Paper 4 highlights the potential of the Comparative Candidate Survey to complement qualitative research on political elites, enhancing our understanding of the electoral and representational processes. Focusing on the relationship between party elites and organized civil society, the paper explores the concept of connective density, combining qualitative fieldwork with CCS data to demonstrate its impact.

Title	Details
Leadership Traits and Voter Behaviour in Australian Federal Elections	View Paper Details
The Road to Charleroi: The Comparative Candidates Survey and How the Chief of a UK Political Party Found Themselves Researching Political Elites and Civil Society in a Post-Industrial Landscape.	View Paper Details
Campaigning, Issues and Representation: Does the Immigrant Origin of Parliamentary Candidates Matter?	View Paper Details
Let’s Get Digital? Drivers of Individual Campaign Digitalization in Longitudinal and Comparative Perspective	View Paper Details
Exploring Congruence Between Voters and Candidates in Greece	View Paper Details
Electoral Persistence: Gender Differences in the Decision to Rerun After Defeat.	View Paper Details