The Black Hole of Republicans in Academia
Are university faculties biased toward the left? And is this diminishing universities’ role in American public life? Conservatives have been saying so since William F. Buckley Jr. wrote "God and Man at Yale" — in 1951. But lately criticism is coming from others — making universities face some hard questions.
At a Harvard symposium in October, former Harvard president and Clinton Treasury secretary Larry Summers argued that among liberal arts and social science professors at elite graduate universities, Republicans are "the third group," far behind Democrats and even Ralph Nader supporters. Summers mused that in Washington he was "the right half of the left," while at Harvard he found himself "on the right half of the right."
I know how he feels. I spent four years in the 1990s working at the centrist Brookings Institution and for the Clinton administration and felt right at home ideologically. Yet during much of my two decades in academia, I’ve been on the "far right" as one who thinks that welfare reform helped the poor, that the United States was right to fight and win the Cold War, and that environmental regulations should be balanced against property rights.
All these views — commonplace in American society and among the political class — are practically verboten in much of academia. At many of the colleges I’ve taught at or consulted for, a perusal of the speakers list and the required readings in the campus bookstore convinced me that a student could probably go through four years without ever encountering a right-of-center view portrayed in a positive light.
3 Comments
I think there are no doubt more liberal people than conservatives at universities, but I don’t think the percentages are as overwhelmingly liberal as people think, nor do I buy into the “brainwashing” meme that is so prevalent in the anti-academic crowd. I think the whole thing is terribly overblown and, as an argument, tiresome. And I say that as someone who tries hard not to be partisan in the classroom.
I don’t know that it’s a question of numbers so much as vocality. There are more liberal folks at universities, which in itself is fine (I increasingly feel alien in both liberal and conservative camps). But if 5% of a group is the really committed, vocal true believer group, that means a ton more liberal voices speaking out on things than conservatives.
It isn’t a matter of votes as much as it is a skewing of discourse.
Also, good to see you making the blog rounds again CP! Good luck finishing the book!
I was going to say that in the previous post myself. I think you hit the nail right on the head with your analysis. In general, I’ve found that the saying “the one who cares the most wins” is true. On campus, to take an example, those who believe strongly in sustainability or environmentalism take this commitment to be a part of their identity. Those who don’t hardly take their opposition to play a similar role in their own identities. The opposition just doesn’t care as much about the issue as the pro-folks do. So the pro-folks win out as the public voice on the issue.