French Election Study, 1958

Resource Information

The work French Election Study, 1958 represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Bowdoin College Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

French Election Study, 1958

Creator

• Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]
• Dupeux, Georges

Author

• Dupeux, Georges

Contributor

• Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]

Subject

• information sources
• legislative issues
• national economy
• national elections
• national politics
• political affiliation
• political attitudes
• DeGaulle, Charles
• public opinion
• referendum
• social problems
• survey
• voting behavior
• political participation
• constitutional change
• domestic policy
• elections

Genre

• survey

Summary

This panel study was conducted in three waves that spanned the critical period of the establishment of the Fifth Republic in France. The first wave was conducted just before a national referendum held in early September 1958 on a proposed constitution for the new regime. The referendum vote being positive, a legislative election in two rounds was held to select the new Chamber of Deputies late in November 1958. The second wave of the study, conducted early in November, served as a post-referendum and pre-election measurement. Finally, the third wave was conducted after the second round of the legislative elections. The interviews sought to ascertain attitudes towards the proposed constitution, referendum vote intentions, and the levels of political involvement, participation, and information-seeking. Questions were also asked concerning the respondents' opinions of the most important problems facing France, the state of the nation, General DeGaulle, referendum results, and specific political and economic problems dealing with housing, schools, and the Algerian crisis. The panel of respondents was not a pure panel in the sense of a full reinterviewing of the same set of people at different points in time. Instead, the sample was divided into thirds, with only two of these thirds eligible for interviewing during any of the three waves. Thus, a first third of the respondents was interviewed in September and November, a second third in September and December, and the final third in November and December. A total of 1,650 persons were successfully interviewed, of which a considerable majority were interviewed a second time. There was no attempt to interview any respondents in all three waves. Personal data include age, sex, level of education, marital status, and number of children. The respondents' political histories were also assessed