Cooperative Election Study: Cumulative US Political Survey Data

The Cooperative Election Study (CES), formerly the Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), is a major US political survey. This cumulative dataset combines Common Content respondents from 2006 onward, containing standardized variables on demographics, geography, vote choice, validated vote, representative approval, and economic views. Researchers can use it for longitudinal analysis of American political behavior and public opinion.

Use Cases

• Analyzing longitudinal trends in US voter demographics and party affiliation.
• Modeling vote choice and electoral outcomes based on demographic and geographic factors.
• Studying the relationship between economic views and political approval ratings.
• Validating self-reported voting behavior against official records.
• Examining geographic patterns in political representation and public opinion.

Strengths

• Large sample size, with sources reporting over 700,000 cumulative respondents.
• Long temporal coverage, spanning nearly two decades of US elections from 2006 onward.
• Includes validated vote data, allowing for comparison of self-reported and actual voting behavior.

Limitations

• Conflicting row counts between sources (701,955 vs. 718,955) and time ranges (2006-2024 vs. 2006-2025).
• Column names and a complete variable list are not provided in the metadata, requiring reference to an external guide.
• License information is not specified across any of the provided sources.

Provenance

Source

Cooperative Election Study (CES), administered by Tufts University's Tisch College, with dataset author Shiro Kuriwaki of Yale University.

Collection Method

Aggregated from the Common Content of repeated large-scale political surveys conducted in the United States.

Time Range

2006 - 2025

Freshness

2026-07-14 14:49:08

Geography

United States