Comparative Analysis of Candidates: Greek National Elections 2023 and European Parliament Elections 2024 - Research Findings

This research work aims to complete a comprehensive comparison of the candidates running in the 2023 Greek national elections and the 2024 European Parliament elections of Greece. The study aims to reveal the distinctive candidate characteristics through a multifaceted approach that includes data collection, processing and analysis. The key contributions to this research project were the data collection (CCS) for the 2023 Greek national elections using the open source statistical survey application, LimeSurvey. The collected data were processed using the R open source environment and programming language to extract distinctive features of the candidates. The Comparative Candidate Survey (CCS) is an international effort to collect data about candidates participating in national elections. The survey uses a questionnaire sent to MP candidates and covers a range of political topics. In Greece, the CCS surveys have been conducted since 2007 primarily online. The coordination and management of a survey for the 2024 European Parliament elections will be carried out through the LimeSurvey application. This research will focus on collecting basic data on Greece's candidates. The information collected will be further processed using the R programming language to identify and clarify the unique characteristics of the candidates. The primary candidate questionnaire focuses on the connections and relationships between the candidate, the party and the voters. While campaigning is important to this core question, it also addresses other areas such as recruitment and career patterns, issues and ideology, and democracy and representation. The research concludes with a comprehensive analysis and comparison of the candidates who participated in the Greek national elections in 2023 and will participate in the European Parliament elections in 2024. The analysis covers a wide range of factors, including demographic information, political beliefs, policy positions and perceptions of the public. The findings of this research contribute valuable insights into the evolving political landscape by elucidating the similarities and differences between candidates in both national and supranational contexts. Using a combination of research methodologies and leveraging open source tools, the study ensured a rigorous and transparent approach to data collection and analysis.