ABSTRACT
A good election study is not designed to produce accurate preelection predictions, to build political strategy, or to recommend campaign tactics for a particular election, important as these side benefits might be. Election studies allow us to explore the institution of social choice, and the ways in which it mobilizes citizen participation. The major research tool in election studies has been the opinion survey, which is most suited to explore the individual level. Election studies need to be anchored in the broader social and political context because elections are only part of politics. Finally, national election studies should sustain dynamic analysis and the study of continuity and change. National election studies in Israel began in 1969, and the format established then has been continued. Periodical national election studies can provide snapshots that allow us to study such important societal phenomena through systematic and longitudinal analysis, while contributing to comparative voting literature at the same time.
