Spiral of silence: is self-censorship threatening academic freedom?

Abstract

Since the Enlightenment, scholars have advocated for freedom of speech as a universal human right. Free speech is the bedrock of democracy, creative thinking, scientific innovation, civic activism, and scholarly inquiry ꟷ and it includes the right to hold views that run counter to majority opinion. Today, however, in many liberal democracies, there is concern that such freedom is under threat from commercial, governmental, and social forces. In such a climate of intellectual conformity, rote learning and, at worst, ideological indoctrination, universities’ core mission is indeed impoverished. Amid the so-called ‘woke wars’, either the liberal progressive left, or the socially conservative right ꟷ or both ꟷ stand accused of suppressing the voices of their perceived enemies. This ‘cancel culture’ aims to silence any speech deemed derogatory, hostile, factually incorrect, or morally offensive. But just how far do scholars censor their language in the classroom, in their research, and on social media, to conceal their true beliefs? New survey data from the 2023 ECPR-IPSA World of Political Science survey records the views of almost 2,000 political scientists in around 100 countries. Analysis revealed several key findings: ▪️ Academia worldwide tends to the liberal left. ▪️ In Western societies, socially conservative scholars are most hesitant to express controversial views. ▪️ In non-Western developing countries with more traditional cultures, self-censorship was not predicted by a scholar’s social values or subjective heterodox status. ▪️ Self-censorship is related to attitudes towards free speech, the age and gender of scholars, and regulations governing freedom of speech. These valuable insights deepen our understanding of the spiral-of-silence process of self-censorship in higher education. They hold important lessons for policies that protect viewpoint diversity in the academy. Pippa Norris will discuss the implications of the survey findings, and consider the next steps in the research agenda.