This volume provides systematic information on the campaigns, political parties, and results of the Bundestag elections of 1980, 1983, and 1987. It explores the issues between elections in addition to providing an overview of the campaigns and an analysis of the three election results. The contributors examine the various parties involved—the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union, the Social Democratic Party, the Free Democratic Party, and the Greens. They also analyze the role of the media in the 1980 and 1983 campaigns. Cerny concludes with a general assessment of the wider significance of the three elections for the West German political system.

Contributors. Kendall L. Baker, Karl H. Cerny, David P. Conradt, Arthur B. Gunlicks, Alice McGillivray, Peter H. Merkl, Ferdinand Muller-Rommel, Helmut Norpoth, Richard M. Scammon, Donald Schoonmaker, Christian Soe