| 1 | Name: | Dr. Philip E. Converse | |
| Institution: | University of Michigan | ||
| Year Elected: | 1988 | ||
| Class: | 3. Social Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 304. Jurisprudence and Political Science | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1928 | ||
| Death Date: | December 30, 2014 | ||
Philip Converse was a leading scholar in the field of political behavior for three decades. Having conducted important research on political opinion and electoral behavior, he was central to transforming the descriptive study of government into today's comparative and analytical study of politics. His 1964 article "The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics" held that public opinion tended to be inconsistent across issues, unstable over time and not particularly considerate of ideology. Political Representation in France (1986), his comprehensive work with Roy Pierce, was immediately recognized as a landmark study, winning the 1987 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Book Award. Another work, The American Voter (1960), written with Angus Campbell, made proficient use of data from National Elections Studies, a seminal set of surveys of American public opinion that were carried out at the University of Michigan. Dr. Converse was associated with the University of Michigan since receiving his Ph.D. from that institution in 1958. He served as director of the university's Institute for Social Research and as Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Political Science, among other positions. Philip Converse died December 30, 2014, in Ann Arbor at age 86. | |||