Robert KC Johnson writes of "More Iowa Rationalizations" at the History News Network and confronts Professor Hanley's assertion that the history department is overwhelmingly Democrats because Johnson County is primarily Democratic. Excerpt:
According to Morelli, Hanley also mirrored Gordon's assertion on why the department had no Republicans—the breakdown of their county's registration figures. "To participate politically here, you have to be a Democrat, she said, noting that most local public officials are Democrats."
This is an odd claim indeed: it would suggest, of course, that History Departments in Republican counties (say, Arizona State University) would be likely to include no Democrats among their ranks. It also suggests an odd view of politics: Hanley appears to believe that people develop an abstract desire to participate politically, and then choose the party based on the likelihood of success.
(And the numbers from Hanley's own county don't quite support her argument: while UI profs registered in Johnson County have a Democrat/Republican ratio of 66.1/11.5, or roughly 6-to-1, the county ratio is 43.9/19.4, or around 2.25/1. Why faculty residents of Johnson County would be so much more Democratic than everyone else in Johnson County Hanley didn't say.)
Hanley further told Morelli that ideological one-sidedness wasn't a problem for her—or any—academic department. "I don't think," said she, "there is a downside." Hanley added a bizarre analogy: "If it is a downside, then it would be a downside to have states to be so-called blue or so-called red. It would be casting a pall on the democratic system where people are free to choose."
I can only hope that Hanley offers a more sophisticated interpretation of politics in her classes.
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