Study title

The AUTNES Candidate Survey 2008 was conducted after the Austrian national parliamentary election of 28 September 2008. The dataset is based on a written census survey of the 4.081 candidates for the National Council election. Candidates were asked questions on four topics: Political background and activities, campaigning, issues and policies as well as democracy and representation. The first subject area contains variables like the candidates’ party affiliation, its duration and possible changes as well as several indicators for political activity like association membership or the average weekly time spent with party activities. Next, candidates were asked about several details of their campaign: Its aim and strategy, time spent, occurring problems, communication means, personal campaign funds and relationship with the party. The third section on issues and policies also includes (besides questions about the candidates’ positions on several topics) coalition preferences, left–right self-placement and opinions on EU topics. The final part of the dataset holds information on candidates’ general attitudes about democracy, their preferred electoral system as well as their understanding of how a Member of Parliament should act.