Systematic analysis of change in political opinions and behaviour of the Dutch electorate. Pre-election wave: involvement in national and foreign political issues / political interest / reading of newspapers / tv newscast exposure / most important national problems / party identification and membership / evaluation of government policy on economic situation, labour market, personal income situation / political issues ( perception of main parties standpoint, own stand ): abortion, nuclear plants, differences in income / voting in last municipal elections / voting intention / important aspects for party choice / sympathy rating of parties and leading politicians / coalition preference / exposure to and opinion on election polls / expected election results. Post-election wave, additional variables: exposure to mass-media coverage of elections / voting behaviour / time of vote decision / voting stability / partner's voting behaviour / vote recall 1982 general elections / political issues ( perception of main parties stand, own stand ): euthanasia, income differences, nuclear plants, NATO nuclear arms on Dutch territory / expectations regarding own income situation, general prosperity and influence of coalition on that / prevalence of reduction of unemployment versus reduction of government debts / opinion on revision of social security system / knowledge of, opinions on leading politicians / left, right rating of political parties / sense of political efficacy / political cynicism / civic competence, participation / party campaign activities / membership of and participation in extra-parliamentary organizations / voting stability / characteristics of leading politicians / influence of religion / pillarization - compartmentalization / confessionalism / secularism. Background variables: basic characteristics/ residence/ housing situation/ household characteristics/ occupation/employment/ income/capital assets/ education/ social class/ politics/ religion/ readership, mass media, and 'cultural' exposure/ organizational membership.The data- and documentation files of this dataset can be downloaded via the option Data Files.