Irish General Election, 2002: the Candidates

The survey of election candidates replicated questions asked in the election study (of public opinion) 2002, in order to generate directly comparable data for voters and candidates. The rationale behind this was the basic assumption of representative democracy: that if representation 'works', then public opinion is reflected at the level of policy-making. From a voting behaviour perspective, directly comparable data would also facilitate analysis of whether voters in fact vote for parties/candidates whose views reflect their own.