The new voter in Western Europe : France and beyond / edited by Bruno Cautrès and Anne Muxel.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: The dynamics of electoral choice / Bruno Cautrès and Anne Muxel -- The process of electoral decision making / Bruno Cautrès and Anne Muxel -- Loyalties, mobilities, abstentions / Anne Muxel -- The plurality of voting possibilities / Vincent Tiberj and Bruno Cautrès -- The decisive influence of image / Daniel Boy and Jean Chiche -- When do voters choose? / Bruno Cautrès and Anne Jadot -- Following the campaign: politicization, confirmation, and polarization / Thierry Vedel -- Electoral agenda and issue voting / Nicolas Sauger -- How Le Pen's electorate lost faith in him / Pascal Perrineau -- The temptation to vote Bayrou / Sylvie Strudel -- Review of an electoral campaign: from chronicle to political logic / Claude Dargent and Martine Barthélemy -- The panel electoral Fraņçais 2007: methodological issues / Viviane Le Hay -- Conclusion: The benefits of panel studies / Bruno Cautrès and Anne Muxel.

This book presents the main results of an electoral panel study which is both unique and innovative not only in French political research but also among Western European electoral studies. The survey was conducted among a sample of 1,846 French voters interviewed on four separate occasions (2007 Presidential and Legislative elections). Electoral trajectories can thus be observed revealing the main trends in electoral behaviour and voting patterns across the electorate. The analysis of such trajectories and patterns mobilizes not only the usual explanatory factors (demographics, political leanings and identifications) but also another set of political variables (issues, the campaign and the media, the candidates' image, how electoral decisions are made, hesitation in voting intentions).This study also provides interesting findings on electoral volatility, including abstention.