This award provides continued support of the Foundation's long-term commitment for the National Election Studies (NES). The National Science Foundation's Political Science Program supports the NES research program to sustain and enhance the diversified data base that undertakes basic research on voting, public opinion, and political participation in the United States. The current award provides support for the 1998 Congressional elections and the 2000 Presidential election. The award provides for continuation of the core time-series data collection which has been supported in part by the NSF since 1970 and completely since 1978. The Board of Overseers will continue to function as a very real partner in study planning and will maintain its full role as trustee and representative of the larger community of users of the NES data. There are opportunities for the diverse national social community to participate directly in the design and execution of NES studies. There are resources for improving the quality of the core NES time-series data and for testing innovations in theory, measurement, and data collection. This research constitutes the most important data base for the study of American politics and American political behavior.
