Vanderbilt University鈥檚 is the new U.S. institutional home for the , a leading global resource for understanding elections and democratic governance. This move strengthens Vanderbilt鈥檚 leadership in global democracy research, building on three decades of international collaborations and the CSES鈥檚 reputation as the premier source of comparative electoral survey data.
The CSES (formerly the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems) operates as an international partnership. The project鈥檚 administration is equally managed by CGD at Vanderbilt and in Germany. The collaboration was recently renewed with a five-year agreement that strengthened the long-standing partnership supporting the CSES鈥檚 global operations. Together, these institutions provide the expertise and administrative support necessary for the CSES to function seamlessly.
鈥淭he CSES is a cornerstone for understanding how elections work and how citizens engage with democracy,鈥� said Noam Lupu, director of the Center for Global Democracy and the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor in Social and Natural Sciences. 鈥淏ringing the U.S. operations of the CSES to Vanderbilt strengthens our capacity to advance rigorous, policy-relevant research on democracy worldwide.鈥�
Founded in 1994 at the University of Michigan鈥檚 Center of Political Studies, the CSES brings researchers and institutions from more than 60 countries together to collect and harmonize post-election survey data. Over the years, the global project has received financial support in the U.S. from the National Science Foundation, which has helped sustain its international survey work and maintain its high-quality datasets. By combining individual survey responses with macro-level contextual data, the CSES enables researchers to examine how political institutions and contexts influence voting behavior. Its datasets are freely accessible and have been cited in thousands of scholarly publications, influencing discussions on electoral reform and democratic accountability worldwide.
Moving the CSES to Vanderbilt aligns with CGD鈥檚 existing strengths in international survey research, most notably its flagship project. Together, these initiatives position Vanderbilt as a global hub for comparative research on democracy.
As part of the transition, Mariana Rodr铆guez, CGD鈥檚 director of research and engagement, will succeed David Howell as director of studies for the CSES. Under Howell鈥檚 more than 20 years of leadership, the CSES evolved into a premier resource for comparative electoral research by maintaining high scientific standards while fostering collaboration across continents. CGD鈥檚 research staff will support the project, contributing expertise in survey methodology and international research coordination.
While Vanderbilt will now serve as the CSES鈥檚 new institutional home in the U.S., the project is a global collaboration. National research teams fund and conduct electoral surveys in their respective countries, while an elected Planning Committee of scholars guides the design of each project module. CGD will work with GESIS to ensure data quality, harmonization and broad dissemination.
The transition coincides with the completion of the CSES鈥檚 sixth module and the planning for Module 7, which will explore new questions on electoral behavior and democratic governance. Over the next five years, the project will generate original comparative data, foster global collaboration and provide insights that inform research and policy on elections and democratic governance worldwide.
鈥淭he Comparative Study of Election Surveys exemplifies the power of sustained international collaboration and open, high-quality data to deepen our understanding of democracy,鈥� Provost C. Cybele Raver said. 鈥淏y welcoming the CSES to Vanderbilt, we build on the Center for Global Democracy鈥檚 long-standing strengths in comparative research and reinforce our role as a global hub for scholarship that informs academic inquiry and public policy.鈥�
