The Brookings institute got 550 responses from professional associations concerning their political affiliations. The Republican to Democrat Ratios were as follows:
Economics 3.7 - 1
History 4.1 – 1
Political Science 4.8 - 1
Sociology 47 – 1
Labor Economist 4 - 1
Public Economist 3.2 – 1
The Sociology ratio is not a mistake. It is not 4.7 to 1 but 47 to 1. In comparison Economics is labeled the “right wing social science” where Democrats outnumber Republicans 3.7 to 1. This is interesting especially since Economists and Sociologists basically study the same thing – society. I see the political diversity of economists as a reason why it performs better than sociology at answering tough questions. Not because they’re more right wing, but because both left and right hold biases that hinders their ability to criticize research that confirms what they always knew deep down inside.
