Philip Ernest Converse (November 17, 1928 – December 30, 2014) was an American political scientist. He was a professor in political science and sociology at the University of Michigan (PhD 1958) who was a seminal figure in the field of public opinion, survey research, and quantitative social science. He has been described as "one of the most important social scientists of the 20th century." Converse's widely cited book chapter "The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics" (Ideology and Discontent, edited by David E. Apter, 1964) held that most people lack structure and stability in their political views. With Angus Campbell, Warren Miller, and Donald E. Stokes, he co-wrote The American Voter, an instrumental work of political science using data from the American National Election Studies , a set of important surveys of American public opinion carried out by the University of Michigan Survey Research Center and the Center for Political Studies. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1969. Personal Life Academic Career Converse was born November 17, 1928, in Concord, New Hampshire. His sister, Connie was a singer-songwriter who recorded music in the 1950s before disappearing in the 70s. He earned his B.A. in English at Denison University in 1949, and he earned a master's degree in English literature from the University of Iowa in 1950. Converse was drafted into U.S. military service during the Korean War, working as a newspaper editor on a base in Battle Creek, Michigan. Converse  studied for a time in France before returning to the United States to earn an M.A. in sociology at the University of Michigan in 1956, followed by a Ph.D. in social psychology at Michigan in 1958. As he began his graduate education, Converse worked as the assistant study director of Michigan's Survey Research Center, joining forces with Warren Miller and Angus Campbell to field the 1956–1960 National Election Study panel survey. That work produced the foundational text for political behavior, The American Voter (1960). He would serve in leadership roles for the center and for the broader Institute for Social Research (ISR) in which it was housed for the rest of his career, including as director of the Center for Political Studies (1981–1986) and director of ISR itself (1986–1989). In 1961, Converse married social scientist Jean G. McDonnell, an expert in interviewing techniques who directed the Detroit Area Study. Converse became an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan in 1960, the same year as his co-authored seminal treatise The American Voter was published. He quickly earned tenure with promotion to associate professor in 1964, as his celebrated essay on belief systems was published. One year later, he was promoted to the rank of full professor in sociology and a joint appointment in political science. After being awarded two named chair positions in the 1970s and 1980s, Converse was selected as the 1987 Henry Russel Lecturer , the University's highest honor given to a senior faculty member . Research Converse is best known for his work on ideology and belief systems, voters and elections, partisanship, political representation, party systems, the human meaning of social change, and political sophistication. His work drew on extensive public opinion survey data from the United States and France. The American Voter (1960) Converse also co-authored The American Voter with Angus Campbell, Warren Miller, and Donald Stokes. The book is one of the earliest and most influential assessments of electoral behavior in political science. One of the book's primary contributions was the introduction of the social-psychological concept of partisan identity and investigations into its effects on political behavior. Partisanship, they say, functions more as an attachment to a social group than as a mere summary of political values and attitudes, and it is the fundamental driver in vote choice and much else. This theory became known as the Michigan Model. They also find that citizens who choose not to identify with a political party are generally disengaged from politics and low in political knowledge, in contrast to idealized views celebrating the independent voter. Evidence for the book was drawn from analysis of the 1956–1968 National Election Studies panel. The American Voter also assesses factors that influence voter turnout, the influence of electoral rules, effects from social and economic conditions, the roles of group identity and socio-economic position, and it introduces some of the initial analysis that underlies Converse's 1964 "Nature of Belief Systems" essay. The book also introduces other important concepts like the "funnel of causality" modeling the long-term and short-term forces leading eventually to an individual's vote, and the "normal vote" model relating partisanship and turnout in election outcomes. Awards and recognition Philip Converse is one of the most influential political scientists in history. His work has been cited by other scholars many thousands of times. Elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1969. Member of The American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. Awarded an honorary doctorates from the University of Chicago and Denison University. President of the American Political Science Association (1983–1984). President of the International Society of Political Psychology (1980–1981). Fellowships awarded: Guggenheim, Fulbright, Russell Sage.
Philip Ernest Converse (November 17, 1928 – December 30, 2014) was an American political scientist. He was a professor in political science and sociology at the University of Michigan who conducted research on public opinion, survey research, and quantitative social science. Converse's book chapter "The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics" (Ideology and Discontent, edited by David E. Apter, 1964) held that most people lack structure and stability in their political views. With Angus Campbell, Warren Miller, and Donald E. Stokes, he co-wrote The American Voter, which used data from the American National Election Studies to create a set of surveys of American public opinion carried out by the University of Michigan Survey Research Center and the Center for Political Studies. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1969. Personal life Converse was born November 17, 1928, in Concord, New Hampshire. His sister, Connie was a singer-songwriter who recorded music in the 1950s before disappearing in the 1970s. Philip earned his B.A. in English at Denison University in 1949, and he earned a master's degree in English literature from the University of Iowa in 1950. Converse was drafted into U.S. military service during the Korean War, working as a newspaper editor on a base in Battle Creek, Michigan. In 1961, Converse married social scientist Jean G. McDonnell, an expert in interviewing techniques who directed the Detroit Area Study. Academic career Converse studied for a time in France before returning to the United States to earn an M.A. in sociology at the University of Michigan in 1956, followed by a Ph.D. in social psychology at Michigan in 1958. As he began his graduate education, Converse worked as the assistant study director of Michigan's Survey Research Center, joining forces with Warren Miller and Angus Campbell to field the 1956–1960 National Election Study panel survey. That work produced his text for political behavior, The American Voter (1960). He served in leadership roles for the center and for the broader Institute for Social Research (ISR) in which it was housed for the rest of his career, including as director of the Center for Political Studies (1981–1986) and director of ISR itself (1986–1989). Converse became an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan in 1960. He quickly earned tenure with promotion to associate professor in 1964. One year later, he was promoted to the rank of full professor in sociology and a joint appointment in political science. After being awarded two named chair positions in the 1970s and 1980s, Converse was selected as the 1987 Henry Russel Lecturer . Research Converse is known for his work on ideology and belief systems, voters and elections, partisanship, political representation, party systems, the human meaning of social change, and political sophistication. His work drew on extensive public opinion survey data from the United States and France. The American Voter (1960) Converse also co-authored The American Voter with Angus Campbell, Warren Miller, and Donald Stokes. One of the book's primary contributions was the introduction of the social-psychological concept of partisan identity and investigations into its effects on political behavior. Partisanship, they say, functions more as an attachment to a social group than as a mere summary of political values and attitudes, and it is the fundamental driver in vote choice and much else. This theory became known as the Michigan Model. They also find that citizens who choose not to identify with a political party are generally disengaged from politics and low in political knowledge, in contrast to idealized views celebrating the independent voter. Evidence for the book was drawn from analysis of the 1956–1968 National Election Studies panel. The American Voter also assesses factors that influence voter turnout, the influence of electoral rules, effects from social and economic conditions, the roles of group identity and socio-economic position, and it introduces some of the initial analysis that underlies Converse's 1964 "Nature of Belief Systems" essay. The book also introduces other concepts like the "funnel of causality" modeling the long-term and short-term forces leading eventually to an individual's vote, and the "normal vote" model relating partisanship and turnout in election outcomes. Awards and recognition Elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1969. Member of The American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. Awarded an honorary doctorates from the University of Chicago and Denison University. President of the American Political Science Association (1983–1984). President of the International Society of Political Psychology (1980–1981). Fellowships awarded: Guggenheim, Fulbright, Russell Sage.
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