Letters from the National Campus Director

New Study on Law and Journalism Faculties Analyzed in NY Times · 20 October 2005

The study, which analyzed the political affiliations of faculty at 18 elite journalism and law schools, found that faculty Democrats outnumber faculty Republicans by a factor of 7-1. The total number of Democrats on the 18 faculties studied was 494 while the total number of Republicans was 74.


At Stanford Law the ratio was 28-1 and at Columbia Journalism School 15-1. Researchers could not identify a single Republican on the faculty of the Journalism School at the University of California-Berkeley. Reputedly conservative law schools like the University of Chicago had a greater ratio of Democrats to Republicans (6.5-1) than did reputedly liberal law schools like Harvard (6.9-1). Only one institution, the journalism school at the University of Kansas, had a majority of Republicans on its faculty (by 10 to 8).

The full study can be found here.

"When a school promises a diverse and inclusive education," commented David Horowitz and Joseph Light, the authors of the study, "it has an obligation to provide it. When the training institutions of entire professions -- in this case law and journalism -- fail to honor their commitment to academic freedom and intellectual pluralism, they and the nation at large have a serious problem."

In his article, titled "Where Cronies on the Left Can be Found" Tierney expostulates on the study's findings, noting that it is ironic for journalists and legal scholars to speak of "cronyism" when it comes to picking the next Supreme Court justice while the schools that train their successors are utterly lacking in political diversity.

"Some academics try to argue that their political ideologies don't affect the way they teach, which to me is proof of how detached they've become from reality in their monocultures," Tierney concluded. "This claim is especially dubious if you're training lawyers and journalists to deal with controversial public policies….They keep meticulous tabs on the race and gender and ethnic background of their students and faculty. But the lack of political diversity is taken as a matter of course. As long as the professors look different, why worry if they all think the same?"

As Tierney notes, the study's conclusions underscore the need for greater intellectual diversity, both in the law and journalism schools and in undergraduate education (where previous surveys have revealed equally large disparities between faculty Democrats and Republicans). While the study did not examine the reasons why this disparity exists, anecdotal evidence and firsthand reports strongly suggest that professors and graduate students with dissenting views are being blacklisted in academia.

In a statement released last June, the American Council on Education together with 27 additional educational organizations pledged that "Intellectual pluralism and academic freedom are central principles of American higher education." CSPC's recent study is yet another piece of evidence that our universities have a long way to go before they meet this criterion. To join the academic freedom campaign or start a chapter on your campus, please contact me at 202-393-0123 or at Sara@studentsforacademicfreedom.org.

Yours in Freedom,

Sara Dogan
National Campus Director
Students for Academic Freedom

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