The data set conistits of the coded content of 783 manifestos belonging to 289 parties that compeeted in the European Parliament Elections between 1979 and 2009. The study integrates the previous two manifesto study, i.e the Euromanifestos-Projet 2009 and the Euromanifesto study 1979-2004.
The objective of analysing election programs is to measure the issue emphasis and policy positions of parties across countries within a common framework. Election programs are taken as authoritative of the parties’ policy emphases and policy positions at a certain point in time. These election programs are subjected to quantitative content analysis.
Within the ‘Euromanifestos Project’ at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) we applied the approach of the ‘Manifesto Project’ (MARPOR) on elections to the European Parliament in order to collect and code all European Parliament election programs of all parties ever represented in that body. In order to preserve comparability with the CMP on the one hand and to make in-depth European-specific analyses possible, the classical CMP coding frame was modified. In which way this has been done is explained in the Euromanifestos Coding Scheme (EMCS).
Based on the classical MRG coding frame, the EMCS is more detailed wherever necessary and includes both, the national and the EU level (according to that coders decide if the governmental frame of the content is national or the EU). It includes a range of policy domains: external relations, freedom and democracy, political system, economy, welfare and quality of life, fabric of society and social groups.