The Nature of Belief Systems brings back into print Philip E. Converse's classic 1964 paper on mass political ignorance. Converse's paper is followed by reflections on the subsequent years of research and on their empirical, normative, and research implications by leading scholars of public opinion, political psychology, American political development, and normative theory.

1. Democratic Competence in Normative and Positive Theory: Neglected Implications of "The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics", Jeffrey Friedman 2. The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics, Philip E. Converse 3. False Starts, Dead Ends, and New Opportunities in Public-Opinion Research, Scott Althaus 4. Democratic Competence, before Converse and After, Stephen Earl Bennett 5. Mass Opinion and American Political Development, Samuel DeCanio 6. Beyond Polling Alone: The Quest for an Informed Public James S. Fishkin 7. Government by the People, for the People, Twenty-First Century Style, Doris A. Graber 8. Ignorant Democracy, Russell Hardin 9. Belief Systems Today, Donald Kinder 10. How Elitism Undermines the Study of Voter Competence, Arthur Lupia 11. The Factual Basis of "Belief Systems": A Reassessment, Samuel L. Popkin 12. Knowledge about Ignorance: New Directions in the Study of Political Information, Ilya Somin 13. The Rationalizing Public, Gregory J. Wawro 14. Democratic Theory and Electoral Reality, Philip E. Converse