SEVENTY-TWO percent of American college and university faculty describe themselves as liberals. This, according to a recent study in the political science journal "The Forum." Meanwhile, the campaignmoney.com Web site shows that professors have contributed more than 10 times as much money to Democrats as to Republicans over the past six years. Outside of the Democratic Party, academia is probably the most liberal institution in America.
Wary that such political imbalance translates into political bias, conservative activist David Horowitz has been promoting an "Academic Bill of Rights" at the national and state levels. In some respects, Horowitz's proposal reinforces basic rights of free speech. At the same time, it may also undermine the rights of students and faculty to freely associate with likeminded individuals. To that end, the best way to address political bias is at the institutional level.
At the federal level, a higher-education funding bill currently before the House of Representatives includes a non-binding resolution that schools receiving federal funding should not retaliate against students for their political beliefs, especially in grading. This right is a no-brainer -- so much so that it does not require a separate "bill of rights" to vindicate.
Courts have consistently held that the First Amendment prohibits the government from conditioning benefits based on political beliefs. To the extent that students, especially at public institutions, are beneficiaries of government spending, schools cannot make students' academic success dependent on whether they express conservative or liberal views.
Where Horowitz's proposal becomes more complicated is that it also covers private institutions that profess particular political points of view. Portions of the text from Horowitz's studentsforacademicfreedom.org Web site (not included in the Congressional resolution) require that schools be evenhanded in their curricula.
"Curricula and reading lists in the humanities and social sciences should
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