Philip E. Converse

Philip Ernest Converse (born  November 17, 1928 in Concord , New Hampshire , †  December 30, 2014 in Ann Arbor , Michigan ) was an American sociologist , political scientist and pollster . From 1960 to 1989 he was a professor at the University of Michigan , where he headed the Institute of Social Research from 1986 to 1989 . One of his best-known and most influential works is an analysis of the individual voting behavior of voters in political elections in the USA , published in 1960 together with other authors under the title The American Voter .

Life

Philip Converse was born in 1928 in Concord, New Hampshire and became in 1949 at Denison University a Bachelor Accounts, a year later at the State University of Iowa an MA degree in English Literature , and in 1956 a second MA in Sociology at the University of Michigan , from which he also received his doctorate in 1958 . He also graduated from the University of Paris in 1956 with a degree in French Studies.

He then became director of studies and later program director at the Survery Research Center at the University of Michigan, where he was Assistant Professor of Sociology from 1960 to 1963, Associate Professor of Political Science from 1963 to 1965, and Professor of Sociology and Political Science from 1965 to 1989 . From 1986 to 1989 he was director of the University's Institute of Social Research . He then headed the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University until 1994 .

Philip Converse was married and had two sons. He died in Ann Arbor, Michigan in late 2014.

Scientific work

In 1960, Philip Converse, together with Angus Campbell , Warren E. Miller and Donald E. Stokes , published the monograph The American Voter, an analysis of the individual voting behavior of voters in presidential and congressional elections in the United States , one of the most influential to this day Works of election research applies. The main focus of his research was in particular the influence of party identification , ideology and religion of a person on his voting behavior as well as in the field of comparative political science the legislation and voter behavior in France . In 1980/1981 he was President of the International Society for Political Psychology and 1983/1984 of the American Political Science Association .

Awards

Denison University (1974) and the University of Chicago (1979) awarded Philip Converse an honorary doctorate . In addition, he was accepted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1969 , the National Academy of Sciences in 1973, and the American Philosophical Society in 1988.

Works (selection)

• The American Voter. New York 1960
• The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics. In: David Apter (Ed.): Ideology and Discontent. New York 1964, pp. 206-261
• Elections and the Political Order. New York 1966
• The Human Meaning of Social Change. New York 1972
• The Quality of American Life: Perceptions, Evaluations, and Satisfactions. New York 1976
• Political Representation in France. Cambridge MA 1986

literature

• Stephanie C. McLean: Converse, Philip E. In: John Gray Geer: Public Opinion and Polling around the World: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara 2004, ISBN 1-57-607911-2 , Volume 1, pp. 391-395
• Edward G. Carmines, James Wood: Converse, Philip E. In: Glenn H. Utter, Charles Lockhart: American Political Scientists: A Dictionary. Greenwood Press, Westport 2002, ISBN 0-31-331957-X , pp. 65-67
• Converse, Philip Ernest. In: Noel Sheehy, Antony J. Chapman, Wendy A. Conroy: Biographical Dictionary of Psychology. Routledge, London and New York 1997, ISBN 0-41-509997-8 , p. 119
• Sam Roberts: Prof. Philip E. Converse, 86; Expert on How Voters Decide Obituary in: The New York Times . Edition of January 8, 2015, p. B10

Individual evidence

1. ^ American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Book of Members ( PDF ). Retrieved April 15, 2016
2. ^ Member History: Philip E. Converse. American Philosophical Society, accessed June 26, 2018 (English, with short biography).