The Ideological Profile of Harvard University Press: Categorizing 494 Books Published 2000-2010

The principal author surveyed all Harvard University Press titles published (in first edition) between 2000 and well into 2010, making 10+ years of publication, in the subject areas of Business & Economics, History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Sociology, as well as a residual of Law titles. A large number of titles were initially removed from the survey because the book title suggested little connection or platform for political ideology. After making these removals, 494 titles remained, and the ideological outlook of each was assessed. The results show that Harvard University Press leans heavily to the left. In fact, over the 10+ years surveyed only eight of the 494 titles, or 2 percent, had an outlook that was conspicuously either classical liberal or conservative. The results are important for debates about whether academic standards—"Has the candidate published a book with a leading university press?"--are themselves ideologically biased. Linked Excel files provide all the data.