T14 Political Leanings Forum

[dowu]

Shitlibs suck.

[hephaestus]

Interesting observation (not implying anything by it), I think the only t14 school in a red state is Duke.

True. Virginia is the only other that's even close.

[06102016]

..

[jn7]

I don't know how it is at other schools, but at mine the extent of "conservatism" that I hear about is just being fiscally hawkish--which I don't think should even be considered "conservative." I have yet to meet one person who is socially conservative (maybe they just don't talk about it)...

[06102016]

..

[A. Nony Mouse]

I found it interesting that in my con law, there was no real controversy about abortion or gay rights or the stereotypical hot button conservative/liberal issues. There was a little bit of drama over affirmative action (including when one girl stuck her hand high in the air and when called on, said very loudly, "I wanted to say that I disagree totally with affirmative action." The prof then asked her why, and the girl said, "I don't feel comfortable discussing that." Alrighty then), but the really contentious debates were over executive powers.

[FKASunny]

I don't know how it is at other schools, but at mine the extent of "conservatism" that I hear about is just being fiscally hawkish--which I don't think should even be considered "conservative." I have yet to meet one person who is socially conservative (maybe they just don't talk about it)...

I've met a couple social conservatives, but I know it through facebook lurking and not through conversation. I think people are way less likely to complain about gays and abortions than they are to complain about taxes or inefficiencies of the federal government.

Same here. My school is kind of conservative, but the social conservatives seem ashamed to admit their views in public. I'm totally okay with this.

[rickgrimes69]

Duke is probably one of the more "conservative" T14s and it is still overwhelmingly liberal.

Not that it matters. Choosing a school based on predetermined notions of political ideology is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

[ScottRiqui]

Duke is probably one of the more "conservative" T14s and it is still overwhelmingly liberal.

Not that it matters. Choosing a school based on predetermined notions of political ideology is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

True, but at least he's talking about ideology *within the T14*; there was a guy here a few months ago who was considering Regent University Law in Virginia because of its conservatism.

[Merylian]

Duke 1L here. A couple of weeks ago I sat in on a Federalist Society meeting and listened to a man talk about how awful Obama is for an hour (I went for the free CookOut). Last week I went to an event called #MotorcycleVagina that was about reproductive rights and had panelists there from the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. Also free barbeque.

Point being, your personal politics don't matter and you will find plenty to entertain yourself with no matter where you lean. Or if you don't care about politics at all, nothing will be shoved down your throat. Just because it's in the south doesn't mean it's a bastion of conservative political thought.

EDIT: Also, they will all feed you, regardless of your leanings. Truly collegial

[nebula666]

The federalist society has the worst content but usually the best food so it's a tough choice to make. I don't really want to listen to the "Why being gay is unnatural" argument again BUT there's Chick-fil-A for those in attendance. Sorry, gays.

[bouleversement]

Besides, if you're so insecure in your own beliefs that the viewpoint of the person in front of the class is a huge concern, perhaps you ought to rethink law school.

Not a huge concern but certainly something to consider. It could be the tiebreaker between two otherwise equally-sound options.

And it is not an insecurity in my own beliefs but rather that of the person in the front of the room. They are the one, after all, in the position to preach their beliefs to the young fertile minds before them. I have seen more than a few attempt to indoctrinate as well. Whether you want to admit it or not this does influence the learning environment.

My preference would be down the middle (since the law is supposed to be apolitical) but it doesn't sound like that is realistic within the top schools.

[bouleversement]

I care because I do not want to primarily learn from or be surrounded by either pinkos or neocons (I unfortunately was in undergrad).

This is pretty good evidence that you lack perspective on the political spectrum.

No, I just couched it for my audience.

[BigZuck]

Besides, if you're so insecure in your own beliefs that the viewpoint of the person in front of the class is a huge concern, perhaps you ought to rethink law school.

Not a huge concern but certainly something to consider. It could be the tiebreaker between two otherwise equally-sound options.

And it is not an insecurity in my own beliefs but rather that of the person in the front of the room. They are the one, after all, in the position to preach their beliefs to the young fertile minds before them. I have seen more than a few attempt to indoctrinate as well. Whether you want to admit it or not this does influence the learning environment.

My preference would be down the middle (since the law is supposed to be apolitical) but it doesn't sound like that is realistic within the top schools.

You sound like a troll.

You trollin' brobro?

[midwest17]

(since the law is supposed to be apolitical)

Who told you that?

[bouleversement]

(since the law is supposed to be apolitical)

Who told you that?

Solon.

[bouleversement]

Besides, if you're so insecure in your own beliefs that the viewpoint of the person in front of the class is a huge concern, perhaps you ought to rethink law school.

Not a huge concern but certainly something to consider. It could be the tiebreaker between two otherwise equally-sound options.

And it is not an insecurity in my own beliefs but rather that of the person in the front of the room. They are the one, after all, in the position to preach their beliefs to the young fertile minds before them. I have seen more than a few attempt to indoctrinate as well. Whether you want to admit it or not this does influence the learning environment.

My preference would be down the middle (since the law is supposed to be apolitical) but it doesn't sound like that is realistic within the top schools.

You sound like a troll.

You trollin' brobro?

What gave me away?

[06102016]

..

[jn7]

I really wish that I had the luxury of picking schools based off political leanings when I was applying haha!

Quite honestly, if HLS accepted me, and I found out that everybody at that school were just soul crushing monsters, I would have sent my seat deposit within seconds.

[Myself]

.

[jordan15]

I would too but we can still make a relative assessment. Here is my list just for fun. It's obvious but for the sake of clarity this is from left-leaning to less left-leaning.

1. Berkeley
2. NYU
3. Yale
4. Stanford
5. Penn
6. Columbia
7. Harvard
8. Cornell
9. Northwestern
10. Michigan
11. Georgetown
12. Chicago
13. Duke
14. Virginia

As fair a guess as any?

Good guesses, but Ithaca is hippie/yuppie central (IMO on par with Berkeley, though I have no idea if the law school is reflective of this) and one of the professors at Northwestern was the leader of the Weather Underground so I'd probably move both of them way up.

[hephaestus]

I really wish that I had the luxury of picking schools based off political leanings when I was applying haha!

Quite honestly, if HLS accepted me, and I found out that everybody at that school were just soul crushing monsters, I would have sent my seat deposit within seconds.

This. I would think many factors would differentiate it for you before political leanings. Even if you got into two schools with similar placement and the same cost, region/city should make a choice fairly decisive.

[jbagelboy]

I would too but we can still make a relative assessment. Here is my list just for fun. It's obvious but for the sake of clarity this is from left-leaning to less left-leaning.

1. Berkeley
2. NYU
3. Yale
4. Stanford
5. Penn
6. Columbia
7. Harvard
8. Cornell
9. Northwestern
10. Michigan
11. Georgetown
12. Chicago
13. Duke
14. Virginia

As fair a guess as any?

Good guesses, but Ithaca is hippie/yuppie central (IMO on par with Berkeley, though I have no idea if the law school is reflective of this) and one of the professors at Northwestern was the leader of the Weather Underground so I'd probably move both of them way up.

Tempted to place Penn and Yale on the more conservative side, make Georgetown and Michigan a little less so.

[sublime]

..

[moonman157]

Because this is as good a place to ask as any, does it seem to anyone else that the worst in class gunners are libertarians? The three people in my section that talk the most in class are all pretty far to the right. Is it just my section, or perhaps as someone on the opposite side of their view maybe I just find their comments to be especially grating?

This may sound bad of me, but I tend to find libertarians (or at least people who allow their libertarian views to define them) to be pretty insufferable in general. I think it's because they feel intellectually superior to conservatives because they aren't guided by religion and they feel intellectually superior to liberals because they feel like they're guided by reason and practicality as opposed to bleeding hearts.