Arthur Miller (1942–2008)

Arthur Miller was born April 24, 1942, in Little Falls, MN. He died in Iowa City, IA on August 19, 2008. Arthur received a BA from the University of Minnesota in 1965 and a PhD from the University of Michigan (UM) in 1971.

Arthur Miller took a position as assistant professor at Ohio State University (1971 -1973). While on leave from Ohio State University (OSU), he served as Study Director at Center for Political Studies (CPS) at the UM. After leaving OSU, he continued as Study Director (1973-76) of the national election series while also serving as a lecturer (1974-1976) at UM. He was Associate Professor of Political Science and Senior Study Director at CPS and the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan from 1976 to 1984. During this period, he was also a research scholar at the University of Goteborg in Sweden (1980) and as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago (1984-1985).

Arthur Miller joined the Political Science Department at the University of Iowa (UI) in 1985. As a full professor at UI, he served as Director of the Laboratory for Political Research (renamed to the University of Iowa Social Science Institute) from 1986 to 2001 and Director of the University of Iowa International Evaluation Project (2001-2007).

Some of Arthur Miller’s more influential sole-authored publications in the American Political Science Review include: “Commentary on Political Issues and Trust in Government” (2006); “Where is the Schema? Critique” (1991); “Rejoinder to ‘Comment’ by Jack Citrin: Political Discontent or Ritualism” (1974); and “Political Issues and Trust in Government: 1964-1970” (1974).

His co-authored publications in the American Political Science Review include: “Understanding Political Change in Post-Soviet Societies” (with W. Reisinger and V. Hesli, 1996); “Reassessing Mass Support for Political and Economic Change in the Former USSR” (with Hesli and Reisinger, 1994); “Schematic Assessments of Presidential Candidates” (with M. P. Wattenberg and O. Malanchuk, 1986); “Throwing the Rascals Out: Policy and Performance Evaluations of Presidential Candidates, 1952-1980” (with Wattenberg, 1985); “Type-Set Politics: Impact of Newspapers on Public Confidence” (with L. Erbring and E. Goldenberg; 1979); “Ideology in the 1972 Election: Myth or Reality - A Rejoiner” (with W. E. Miller, 1976); “A Majority Party in Disarray: Policy and Polarization in the 1972 Election” (with Miller, A. Raine and T. Brown, 1976); and “Mobilization of Liberal Strength in the House, 1955-1970: A Look at the Democratic Study Group” (with A. G. Stevens and T. Mann, 1974).

His co-authored articles in the Journal of Politics are: “Emerging Party Systems in Post-Soviet Societies: Fact or Fiction?” (with G. Erb, Reisinger and Hesli, 2000); “Public Behavior and Political Change in Post-Soviet States” (with Reisinger and Hesli, 1995); and “A Reference Group Theory of Partisan Coalitions” (with C. Wlezien and A. Hildreth, 1991).

For the American Journal of Political Science, Arthur wrote: “Normal Vote Analysis: Sensitivity to Change Over Time” (May 1979). His co-authored articles published in the American Journal of Politics include: “The Development of Party Identification in Post-Soviet Societies” (with T. Klobucar 2000); “Measuring Party Identification: Independent or No Partisan Preference?” (with Wattenberg, 1983); “Group Consciousness and Political Participation” (with P. Gurin, G. Gurin, and Malanchuk, 1981); and "Front-Page News and Real-World Cues: Another Look at Agenda-Setting by the Media" (with L. Erbring and E. Goldenberg, 1980).

Arthur Miller’s other co-authored and single authored articles appeared in numerous other American politics and area studies journals. He co-edited three books: Presidential Campaigns and American Self Images (with B. Gronbeck, 1994); Public Opinion and Regime Change: The New Politics of Post-Soviet Societies (with Reisinger and Hesli, 1993) and American Politics in the Heartland (with D. Madsen and J. Stimson, 1990). He co-authored American Political Trends: The National Election Studies Data Sourcebook, 1952-1978 (with Miller and E. Schneider, 1980).

Arthur Miller had a special talent for recognizing an area of work just as it was ready to take off. For example, his 1974 American Political Science Review article on political trust caught the decline in political trust before other researchers did. During the 1970s, as Study Director for the American National Election Studies (ANES) presidential election surveys, he took the lead in writing the journal articles on losses of the Democratic Party in 1972 and their ascension to power in 1976. His 1981 American Journal of Political Science article on group consciousness and voting, the 1985 APSR article on retrospective voting, and the 1986 APSR article on schemas for assessing presidential candidates likewise helped set the research agenda on those topics.

Arthur’s early work on political trust remains his most cited and most influential work. He demonstrated that the decline in trust resulted from dissatisfaction with the policy alternatives offered by the parties on major problems facing the nation. Challenged by Jack Citrin (APSR, 1974), who argued that trust is related to support for the incumbent administration and would naturally bounce back up with the election of a new administration, Miller correctly recognized that the decline in political trust was a long-term phenomenon that would not be so easily cured. His view was that replacing political leaders without corresponding improvement in government performance only further weakens political trust, a prophecy that unfortunately fits the politics of the subsequent three decades all too well.

His application of political psychology to the study of presidential candidates remains essential to our understanding of the candidate factor in U.S. elections. The APSR article with Martin Wattenberg and Oksana Malanchuk carefully analyzed the open-ended survey comments about presidential nominees, finding they were predominately performance-based comments on the candidates' competence, integrity, and reliability. The differences between respondents in their evaluations reflected individual differences in their cognitive schema. These results made him regard voting on the basis of candidate orientation to be fully as rational as voting on the basis of issues, as they indicate how the candidate would conduct governmental affairs.

His AJPS article with Patricia and Gerald Gurin and Oksana Malanchuk is a foundational article regarding the impact of social groups on voting. The authors break down the group consciousness concept into four constituent components and demonstrate that these factors have interactive effects rather than linear effects on both voting turnout and nonelectoral political participation. Identification with a group is not sufficient to have political effects, without feelings of power deprivation, relative dislike for the outgroup, and/or belief that social barriers explain the group's disadvantaged position.

These pieces represent only a few of his important contributions to the research literature on American political behavior. Noteworthy is that these articles are among the most frequently cited by other scholars in political science. At the time of his death, he was among the 100 most-cited political scientists in the world.

Notable is that his articles on American politics led to equally important contributions to understanding political behavior in countries in Western and Eastern Europe. Although Arthur’s early work focused primarily on American politics, over time he became a comparative politics specialist as well. An example of his international influence and involvement is his work in Norway. Arthur first visited the University of Trondheim as a Fulbright Research Scholar in 1983-84, and he returned as a visiting scholar for many summers and shorter periods in the following years. At Trondheim he continued his research on trust in government, comparing survey data from the national election studies in Norway and Sweden with the ANES series from the United States. With Norwegian co-authors he published a number of comparative journal articles and book chapters on trust and on topics such as the gender gap in voting, economic voting, and crossnational variations in support for tax evasion.

As another example of Arthur’s work as a comparativist, in the 1990s he began working in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Working with William Reisinger and Vicki Hesli, he generated and analyzed survey data from Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine. These analyses, published in the APSR as well as several other journals, were broadly influential, in particular for the evidence they provided of these publics’ attitudes toward the democratization process and identification with emerging political parties. This research was funded repeatedly by the National Science Foundation.

As Director of the Iowa Social Science Institute, Arthur organized the Heartland Polls. Indeed, a common strand that binds the American and the comparative scholarship is the use of public opinion polling. If needed data were not available, he would get it. He had tremendous knowledge of and experience in conducting a high quality scientific survey: from writing good questions, to selecting the sample, to analyzing the answers. He often accompanied interviewers for in-the-field training, to understand what lay behind the answers collected.

Where ever he worked, Arthur made many friends -- in the university as well as in the surrounding community. Arthur’s large contingent of friends in Trondheim remembers his kindness, generosity and loyalty. Those who worked with him on research remember his unlimited energy and excitement in doing statistical analysis during long hours on weekdays and weekends. He was always in good spirits and was generous with his advice and time.

Arthur H Miller is survived by his wife, Natasha Ivanova of Iowa City; four children, Bret Miller of Michigan, Maija Rowland of Michigan, Marcus Miller of Iowa and Lucas Miller of Iowa, six siblings, Maryann McDougal, Robert Miller Jr., and Ronald Miller, all of Minnesota, James Miller of Missouri, Joel Miller of Arizona and David Miller of North Carolina; and a grandson, Randy Corey.

Written by:
Vicki Hesli and William Reisinger (University of Iowa)
Ola Listhaug (The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim)
Herbert Weisberg (Ohio State University)
Christopher Wlezien (Temple University)