Since the elections of 1987, the Political Studies Association of Ireland has published books on each Irish general election. This latest volume covers the 1997 elections and is the first study to provide an in-depth analysis of both the campaign and the election results.Written in an accessible and nontechnical style, the contributors are internationally acknowledged experts in party politics and elections. The book follows the tradition set in previous volumes in two respects: many of the contributors have written on the same topics in earlier volumes and, where appropriate, this book continues similar themes. However, How Ireland Voted 1997 places greater attention on the election campaign itself and the characteristics of the new Dail.

Michael Marsh is Head of the Department of Political Science and a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. He is the author of a wide variety of articles on parties and electoral behaviour which have appeared in books and journals published in Europe and the United States. His co-edited books include Candidate Selection in Comparative Perspective: The Secret Garden of Politics (London, 1988) and Modern Irish Democracy (Dublin, 1993). Paul Mitchell is a lecturer in politics at the Queen's University, Belfast. He has published a range of articles and chapters on coalition politics and party competition as well as conflict regulation in ethnically divided societies. A book he co-edited (with Rick Wilford), Politics in Northern Ireland, was recently published by Westview Press. Michael Marsh is Head of the Department of Political Science and a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. He is the author of a wide variety of articles on parties and electoral behaviour which have appeared in books and journals published in Europe and the United States. His co-edited books include Candidate Selection in Comparative Perspective: The Secret Garden of Politics (London, 1988) and Modern Irish Democracy (Dublin, 1993). Paul Mitchell is a lecturer in politics at the Queen's University, Belfast. He has published a range of articles and chapters on coalition politics and party competition as well as conflict regulation in ethnically divided societies. A book he co-edited (with Rick Wilford), Politics in Northern Ireland, was recently published by Westview Press.