Contains reports on the Irish election study and is an academic survey of the motives, outlook and behaviour of the Irish voter. This work explores a number of well-known puzzles about Irish electoral behaviour and uses a data set to provide answers to them whilst offering an insight into the impact of the economy on electoral behaviour.

This work contains reports on the first ever Irish election study and is the first comprehensive, academic survey of the motives, outlook and behaviour of the Irish voter. It explores a number of well-known puzzles about Irish electoral behaviour and uses the unique data set to provide answers to them and offers a crucial insight into the impact of the economy on electoral behaviour. The survey evidence is presented in a highly accessible way and findings are assessed in both an Irish and comparative context.

List of tables
List of figures
1. Introduction
2. How people voted
3. The evidence for cleavage politics
4. The extent and meaning of party attachment
5. Credit and blame for the 'Celtic Tiger'
6. Leaders and their parties
7. Grassroots campaigning
8. Parties or candidates?
9. Adding it all up
10. Voter turnout: the need for facilitation and mobilisation
11. Conclusion
References
Appendix I: Details of the survey
Appendix II: The Electoral System
Appendix III: Table for Chapter 9
Appendix III: Questionnaire with frequency distributions
Index.