Originally published in 1983, this book locates the behavioural approach to the study of politics in its social science and historical context. The text reviews the findings in a number of fields - public opinion, electoral behaviour, political participation, policy outputs, political recruitment, political welfare and socialisation, among others. The book is comprehensive and when first published it was the first single-author study to integrate the diverse findings of many studies both from the UK and North America. It was particularly written for students on courses in political analysis, political methods, political sociology and political behaviour.