In the first society—let’s call it Utopia—there are always free and fair elections.
asserted
’s → call → it
They are free and fair in the sense that every adult gets to vote, and all the votes are counted fairly.
asserted
votes → get → sense
Here’s the catch, though.
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catch → ’ → ?
All politically relevant information (about the economy, foreign relations, and so on) must be approved by the Information Board before it reaches the public.
asserted
it → approve → public
The Information Board in turn is appointed by the Great Leader, who, it turns out, always wins elections.
asserted
it → appoint → elections
But if not, that proves that the ideal of democracy goes beyond just ensuring that everyone gets their choice at the voting booth.
asserted
everyone → prove → booth
As in Utopia, every adult gets their vote.
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adult → get → vote
But in this society, Catholic Priests control something they call the Guild.
asserted
they → control → something
The Guild is for Catholics only—all members must accept a particular narrow interpretation of doctrine, along with a range of associated claims about justice, clerical authority, social issues, and the like.
uncertain
members → accept → justice
A few heretics might slip in here and there, but only if they outwardly commit to the doctrine.
uncertain
they → slip → doctrine
Now, all future leaders of the society (be they business leaders, politicians, or journalists) must spend at least four years with the Guild, learning from the Priests.
asserted
they → spend → Priests
Moreover, voters have no control over the Guild—Priests are hired by other Priests.
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Priests → have → Priests
The power to shape future leaders and hence future policy and opinion lies with the Guild.
asserted
power → shape → Guild
They may have some power in the short term, but, over time, the Guild will determine the direction of society.
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Guild → have → society
Many intellectuals (including John Rawls, T.M. Scanlon, and Noam Chomsky) have argued that inequality of wealth undermines democracy, even in the presence of one person, one vote.
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inequality → include → person
Different writers explain it in different ways, but the core thought is that large corporations and the wealthy can wield an outsized influence on politics by setting the terms of public discourse.
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corporations → explain → discourse
They might do so by donating to politicians or by owning major media corporations and newspapers.
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They → do → corporations
In this way, the public’s consent to the system can be “manufactured,” in Walter Lippmann’s phrase.
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consent → manufacture → phrase
The key issue is that for-profit corporations and the wealthy are not accountable to the public—the public doesn’t get to decide where and how they spend their money.
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they → get → money
The main idea is simple: if I get to decide what information you consume, then I can control how and what you think.
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you → get → what
Indeed, this is why authoritarian regimes tightly control media and speech within their territories.
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regimes → control → territories
The resulting consent will then not be genuine consent.
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consent → result → ?
What few people notice is that the above argument carries over to the modern university system.
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argument → notice → system
Academia, as it currently stands, has three features that, taken together, undermine the ideals of democracy.
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that → stand → democracy
1. Universities shape future elites
asserted
Universities → shape → elites
Anybody who wants to become a journalist, executive, lawyer, or politician must, de facto, go through the university system.
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who → want → system
As students pass through the system, the professoriate heavily influences how they think about social and political issues.
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they → pass → issues
Faculty have great leeway in what they teach and how.
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they → have → what
Of course, social media, newspapers, and podcasts influence the culture too.
asserted
media → influence → culture
What’s more, listening to a podcast in one’s free time is optional.
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listening → ’ → time
Doing the reading and assignments in a class is not—at least if one wants to pass.
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one → do → class
Ideas or claims repeated throughout a semester will register as more plausible to most of the students taking the class.
uncertain
Ideas → repeat → class
Now, many majors, such as chemistry or electrical engineering, do not directly deal with social or political issues.
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majors → deal → issues
But even students majoring in these fields must complete general education requirements, which are housed in departments like anthropology, sociology, or various “studies” disciplines, which do cover social and political issues.
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which → major → issues
The academy is politically homogenous
This is especially so in the fields dealing with social and political questions.
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This → deal → questions
In anthropology and sociology, for example, the ratio of registered Democrats to Republicans exceeds 40 to 1 at elite liberal arts colleges.
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ratio → register → colleges
It’s not just political affiliation: surveys that directly ask about political ideology reveal similar patterns.
asserted
that → ’ → patterns
Moderates and right-of-center scholars are vastly underrepresented in the academy compared with the general population.
asserted
Moderates → underrepresente → population
Crucially, there is a wide range of evidence that this imbalance is in significant part due to discrimination, especially at the hiring stage.
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imbalance → be → stage
A study of law faculty from 2001-2010 revealed that libertarian and conservative faculty ended up in law schools ranked 12 or 13 spots lower as compared to their equally credentialed left/liberal counterparts.
asserted
faculty → reveal → counterparts
…and 27 more, not listed.
