Closed Minds?: Politics and Ideology in American Universities [Hardcover]

Bruce L. R. Smith (Author), Jeremy D. Mayer (Author), A. Lee Fritschler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

Contrary to popular belief, the problem with U.S. higher education is not too much politics but too little. Far from being bastions of liberal bias, American universities have largely withdrawn from the world of politics. So conclude Bruce L. R. Smith, Jeremy Mayer, and Lee Fritschler in this illuminating book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The authors shed light, always through their numbers and sometimes with their prose, on an important topic in American discourse. It's a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the topice" —Robert VerBruggen, The American Spectator

Review

"The question of ideological bias in universities has been debated for years. Bruce Smith, Jeremy Mayer, and Lee Fritschler have approached this question with scrupulous research and open minds. They have come up with conclusions that probably surprised them —and will certainly surprise others." —Alan Brinkley, Columbia University

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815780281
• ISBN-13: 978-0815780281
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,852,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unconvincing, July 30, 2009

By 

Steven Farron (Johannesburg, Gauteng South Africa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Closed Minds?: Politics and Ideology in American Universities (Hardcover)

The accusation that American universities are intolerant bastions of left-wing bias and indoctrination has been supported by a considerable amount of evidence and has provoked a great deal of controversy. In this book, Smith, Mayer, and Fritschler attempt to disprove it. They concede that they found that many times more professors are Democrats than Republicans. However, they claim to have found that this imbalance has no effect on teaching or faculty hiring. They may be correct; but in order to prove their point, they are going to have to adduce more convincing evidence than the evidence in this book. Their conclusions are based mostly on questionnaires given to a national sample of professors, in which they were asked whether they saw bias in their own classrooms or in those of colleagues; whether they believed that lack of ideological diversity was a significant problem on their campuses; and whether they believed that conservative job applicants were victims of discrimination.
Of course, the professors denied these accusations. How many people, if given a chance to exonerate themselves and their profession from a serious accusation merely by saying that it is not true, would use that chance to confess that they are guilty? They would not confess their guilt even if they were aware of the bias with which they are accused. However, the main accusation is that left-wing bias is so pervasive at universities that most academics and students are not aware of it; just as fish are proverbially not aware of being in water.
Moreover, Smith, Mayer, and Fritschler did not see that even the data that they reported undermines their conclusion. In response to the question about whether preference was given to liberal job applicants at their institutions, 36 percent of those who identified themselves as "strongly conservative" answered that liberals received "strong preference," and 24 percent said that liberals received at least "weak preference." So, sixty percent of strongly conservative professors think that ideology affects hiring. This does not prove that such bias exists, but it does throw into perspective the denials of such bias by the liberal majority. There is no reason to assume that the responses of conservative professors are less accurate than those of their liberal colleagues.