Are there any surveys on the political affiliations of historians (preferably in the United States)?

by minethrowawa

I'd be very interested in finding out what political positions historians generally hold, or if there is any generally held position. Have there been any surveys done in this area?

Enrico_Dandolo

There is a book called, The Marketplace of Ideas by Louis Menand, which is a history of the postwar American academy. I looked for my copy, but I couldn't find it. I'll update it if I do. I can tell you that there is a chapter called "Why Do All Professors Think Alike?" There are some figures. Basically, the academy (especially the Liberal Arts) as a whole skews pretty heavily to the left. At least on a personal level, in my experience in a rather large university history department, I can say that this is pretty much true.

boneisspirit

This visualization, based on campaign contributions data, has historians listed under two categories: Social Science and Academia. In the first historians are 88% Democrats and 12% Republicans, in the second history professors are 95% Democrats.

Also, there is a paper based on surveys of academics. Predictably, among historians 80% are Democrats and 17% more are Independent.