Candidates for the European Parliament, April-May 1979

This data collection provides information on the goals and attitudes toward current political issues of a sample of 742 candidates for seats in the first elections to the European Parliament, held in June 1979. Interviews were conducted during the two months preceding the election in each of the nine nations that were members of the European Community. The sample includes 62 percent of those who were elected to the European Parliament. Candidates were asked about their reasons for choosing to become candidates, and their views on the goals, priorities, and powers of the European Parliament and the European Community. In addition, the study includes data on each respondent's career history and political affiliation, as well as information on the contacts the candidates had with other parties and the subjective sense of closeness they felt toward them, both in their own nations and across national boundaries within the European Community. The study was designed to permit comparison of opinions between the general public and candidates, and it includes a large number of questions that were also administered to the general public in EURO-BAROMETER 11: YEAR OF THE CHILD IN EUROPE, APRIL 1979 (ICPSR 7752). Demographic information collected on respondents includes age, occupation (other than any political position already held), religion and frequency of religious observation, number of foreign languages spoken, and self-assigned political position on a left-right scale. Background information on the respondents' parents was also obtained, including foreign languages spoken by parents, political affiliation, and occupation.