Introduction
In recent years, a number of researchers have attempted to empirically examine claims of
political bias among college professors. There is a general consensus that college professors are
not representative of the general population but, instead, tend towards the left of the ideological
spectrum and affiliate frequently with the Democratic party (Cardiff and Klein 2005; Rothman,
Lichter and Nevitte, 2005; Brookings Institute, 2001). This finding is responsible for a great deal
of political discussion about professional responsibility and balance within the system of higher
education. Yet, we have yet to really examine the effect that professors’ political views have on
students’ educational experiences.
While it may be reasonable to assume that college professors allow their own political
views to color their presentation of material, evidence of this tends to rest on anecdotal accounts.
This does not mean that these individual cases are not of concern, but it does raise questions
about the frequency of these occurrences. We ought not, based on isolated incidents, conclude
that the average college professor attempts to politically indoctrinate students, nor should we
dismiss all concerns about political bias in the classroom, merely because we have concluded
that highly publicized accounts of the problem are not representative of political science
education as a whole. Assuming that the vast majority of college professors are responsible
professionals who attempt to present balanced material, it is still possible that their views
influence students in subtle ways.
In order to further the discipline’s understanding of politics within the college classroom,
we constructed a survey of political science students and their professors, in the hopes of
answering two important questions. The first question centers on the extent to which students are
aware of their professors’ political leanings. Many professors attempt to present multiple
2
Convention