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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).

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Introduction: The Dynamics of Electoral Choice; B.Cautrès & A.Muxel The Process of Electoral Decision-making; B.Cautrès & A.Muxel Loyalties, Mobilities, and Abstentions; A. Muxel The Plurality of Voting Possibilities; V.Tiberj & B.Cautrès The Decisive Influence of Image; D.Boy & J.Chiche When Do Voters Choose?; B.Cautrès & A.Jadot Following the Campaign: Politization, Confirmation, and Polarization; T.Vedel Electoral Agenda and Issue Voting; N.Sauger How Le Pen´s Electorate Lost Faith in Him; P.Perrineau The Temptation to Vote Bayrou; S.Strudel Review of an Electoral Campaign: From Chronicle to Political Logic; C.Dargent & M.Barthélemy The Panel Electoral Fran‡ais 2007: Methodological Issues; V.Le Hay Conclusion: The Benefits of Panel Studies; B.Cautrès & A.Muxel

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"This book represents contemporary French political science at its best: grappling with important questions by employing cutting-edge tools and theories drawn from the international political science literature, but augmenting these tools and theories as appropriate with approaches designed specifically for the French case." - Mark Franklin, Stein Rokkan Professor of Comparative Politics, European University Institute

"This book is a major step. Most of the scholarly leaders in the French elections community have a chapter in this book.Virtually all are connected, directly or indirectly, to the organizations that study French elections (CEVIPOF, CNRS, FNSP).The topics considered cover valuable political science topics: the process of electoral decision, voter loyalty, political alignments, the influence of candidate images, the timing of the electoral decision, the role of the campaign, the place of issues in the vote choice, andthe impact of candidates such as Le Pen and Bayrou. All of this is especially exciting and timely reading because of the highly contested 2007 presidential election between candidates Royal and Sarkozy." - Michael S. Lewis-Beck, Department of Political Science, University of Iowa

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BRUNO CAUTRÔS Researcher for the CEVIPOF (Center for Political Sciences Research) at Sciences Po, Paris, France.

ANNE MUXEL Research Director at the Centre for Political Research (CEVIPOF) at Sciences Po where she specialises in electoral and political behaviour, abstentionism, etc.

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