There is a body of work on college faculty, ideology, and attitudes that hasn’t received the attention it deserves. The researchers are Gary A. Tobin and Aryeh K. Weinberg, and their works include Political Beliefs & Behavior of College Faculty and Religious Beliefs & Behaviors of College Faculty.
The first book reports the findings of a survey of 1,269 four-year college faculty from 712 different colleges and universities. The survey asked the usual political-orientation questions and came up with
— Only 16 percent of faculty identify as Republican and 17 percent as conservative or very conservative.
— 46 percent identify as Democrat and 48 percent as liberal or very liberal.
— 11 percent of social-science and humanities faculty identify as Republican and 12 percent as conservative.
— 54 percent of social science and humanities faculty identify as Democratic and 60 percent as liberal.
— In the 2004 election, 81 percent of humanities faculty voted for Kerry, 15 percent for Bush.
The survey also asked a series of other, more specific questions about religion, capitalism, and the United States. For the latter, the following findings came up:
— 42 percent of humanities faculty agree with the statement, “The United States does more to help people in developing nations than it does to harm them.”
— 34 percent of humanities faculty disagreed with the statement, “America has made a contribution to the world by expanding freedom to more and more people.”
— 73 percent of humanities faculty agreed with the statement, “Supporting institutions like the International Court of Justice is the right policy even if it would limit America’s options.”
— 70 percent of all faculty agreed with the statement, “I would prefer a United Nations with more authority over resolving international disputes including disputes involving the United States.”
