The Elections in Israel Book Series as a Test Case: Does the Research Reflect the Personalization of Israeli Politics or Does It Adhere to the Party Politics Paradigm?

The chapter uses election research in Israel as a test case to examine whether research reflects major developments in politics. Specifically, it explores whether the research of Israeli politics reflects the findings that in Israel personalization has been particularly deep and comprehensive, permeating all arenas: institutional, behavioral and the mass media. To examine the expression of personalization in research, it analyzes studies that appeared in the series The Elections in Israel. The personalization of Israeli politics identified in many empirical studies – and found to be much deeper than in other democracies – is not reflected in the way that politics is presented in these studies. The Elections in Israel books adhere instead to the party paradigm. However, the election series documents the trend of centralized personalization, and institutional developments – the adoption and abolition of direct election – did affect the expressions of personalization in the series.