This panel study was conducted within the framework of the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies. The survey was administered in five waves. Three waves were conducted in 1981, two before the election of May 26 and one afterward. The fourth wave occurred in the fall of 1982 and the final wave in 1986. The purpose of this collection was to assess electoral change in the Netherlands. Main topics covered in the first wave included political interest, national problems of importance to the respondent, voting behavior in 1977, party identification and membership, vote intention, sense of political efficacy, left-right political ratings, and expectations of election outcome. Many first-wave questions were repeated in the succeeding waves. In the second wave, new questions were added on coalition preference, political knowledge (identification of leading politicians and their functions), faith in prospective premiers, political issues such as the economy (unemployment, inflation), abortion, nuclear energy (closing nuclear plants), and income differences, and which party offered the best solution for solving unemployment, crime, pollution, the housing shortage, welfare fraud, evasion welfare levies (taxes), and nuclear armaments. Respondents' views on religion in society (confessional attitude score), satisfaction with the government, and social participation were also ascertained. The third wave added items on voting behavior in 1981, sense of civic competence, civic political participation, (post-)materialist values, women's liberation, legitimacy of social protest and government reaction, political distrust and political cynicism, and beliefs about religion and society. New items in the fourth wave concerned voting behavior in 1982, the effect of television debates, and future voting. New topics in the fifth wave centered on voting behavior in 1986 and experience with unemployment. Demographic variables include respondent's gender, age, marital status, employment status and profession, education, and religion. Other background variables are available on number of persons in the household, household income, and region.