Type of Submission
Podium Presentation
Keywords
Conservative, Republican, liberal, Democrat, political affiliation, student body, Cedarville
Abstract
There is little question that higher education within the United States is largely perceived as a liberal organ. Indeed, within both the professorate and the student body, the liberal demographic has maintained a steady and often dramatic majority. A modest liberalization effect has been found among students across the nation, and those within the social sciences have exhibited greater-than-average liberal-to-conservative ratios. Stemming from both stereotypes and general data, many politically conservative affiliates have trumpeted their political ideologues as the alienated, maligned, and even persecuted minority. From accusations of liberal indoctrination to the dismissal of opposing views, many conservatives have heatedly spoken against the nationwide institution of higher learning. Naturally, like-individuals associate with one another, and quite predictably, collegiate learning has revealed an at times compact conservative minority within specific colleges and universities, even to the point of reaching a prominent majority within these few institutions. It was hypothesized that Cedarville University, consistent with data from 2004, would reveal a strong conservative majority. While results upon polling were relatively consistent with this hypothesis, the demographic spread was unexpectedly consistent with results revealed in the 2004 original study. Moreover, the recent data revealed several statistically significant trends that prompted multiple hypotheses. A biannual survey is encouraged for future research in order to comprehensively examine the political affiliation trends of a unique student body.
Faculty Sponsor or Advisor’s Name
Glen M. Duerr, Ph.D.; Chi-en Hwang, Ph.D.
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center, Room 240
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-16-2014 2:40 PM
End Date
4-16-2014 3:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
The Political Affiliation Demographics of the Student Body
Cedarville, OH
There is little question that higher education within the United States is largely perceived as a liberal organ. Indeed, within both the professorate and the student body, the liberal demographic has maintained a steady and often dramatic majority. A modest liberalization effect has been found among students across the nation, and those within the social sciences have exhibited greater-than-average liberal-to-conservative ratios. Stemming from both stereotypes and general data, many politically conservative affiliates have trumpeted their political ideologues as the alienated, maligned, and even persecuted minority. From accusations of liberal indoctrination to the dismissal of opposing views, many conservatives have heatedly spoken against the nationwide institution of higher learning. Naturally, like-individuals associate with one another, and quite predictably, collegiate learning has revealed an at times compact conservative minority within specific colleges and universities, even to the point of reaching a prominent majority within these few institutions. It was hypothesized that Cedarville University, consistent with data from 2004, would reveal a strong conservative majority. While results upon polling were relatively consistent with this hypothesis, the demographic spread was unexpectedly consistent with results revealed in the 2004 original study. Moreover, the recent data revealed several statistically significant trends that prompted multiple hypotheses. A biannual survey is encouraged for future research in order to comprehensively examine the political affiliation trends of a unique student body.
