Dutch Parliamentary Election Study, 1981

This study contains electoral data on the political attitudes and behavior of 2,305 Dutch voters in 1981. The fifth in a series of national election studies in the Netherlands, this study was conducted as a three-wave panel focusing on the effects of campaigns and elections on the political attitudes, information systems, opinions, and preferences of the Dutch electorate. Items explored respondents' political knowledge, interest, and participation, as well as their positions on such issues as abortion, women's emancipation, nuclear energy and armaments, differences in income, crime, unemployment, and pollution. Also probed were respondents' perceptions and evaluations of the Dutch political parties, national problems of importance to them, and their satisfaction with the government, as well as their views of the legitimacy of social protest and government reactions, political distrust and cynicism, and religion and society. The first wave, gathered a few months before the start of the election campaign (January-February 1981), includes demographic information on respondents such as age, sex, marital status, occupation, political party identification and membership, membership in labor unions and other organizations, civic participation, education, social class, and religion. The second wave was gathered during the election campaign (April-May 1981), and the third wave was gathered immediately following the election of May 26, 1981 (May-June 1981).