These full-scale studies provide contemporary accounts of every general election since World War II. Examining the historical background to the elections, the issues, the course of the campaigns, the role of the media and advertising agencies, and the backgrounds of the candidates, as well as providing detailed analyses of the opinion polls and the final results, the collection creates a major comparative record and a case study of how democratic elections operate in practice.;The collection also includes The 1975 Referendum , the first national referendum in British history. It tells the story of how it was called, and how the referendum was conducted, focusing on the issues involved and on the way in which British politicians and British people reacted in an unfamiliar situation.;Much of the research is based on exhaustive interviews with the participants, providing a picture of the changing face of British politics.