The main purpose of this data collection was to provide directly accessible information on change and stability of electoral behavior and political orientation in the Netherlands.

This dataset is a compilation of common core variables included in the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies of 1971, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2006. However, several of the election studies consist of pre-election interviews as well as post-election interviews.

Hence, the criteria for selecting the waves and variables were:
(1) The waves and variables included in the integrated dataset should be as representative as possible of the Dutch electorate,
(2) If a variable was not available in the first wave of a study, it was taken from the second wave or the third wave,
(3) All variables included at least four times in the 1971-2006 studies were included in the integrated dataset (albeit with some exceptions, documented below), and
(4) If necessary, selected variables were recoded and converted to facilitate longitudinal analyses.

The major areas of study focus on national problems, political efficacy, perceived stand of the main political parties on important political issues, view of religion in society, satisfaction with government, social participation, voting behavior in recent elections, left-right self-rating, left-right rating of political parties, sense of civic competence, civic political participation, legitimacy of social protest and government reaction, political distrust, and political cynicism. Respondents' views on other salient political and social issues, such as abortion, nuclear energy, differences in income, and nuclear armaments, were also elicited.