Michael Conklin (Texas A&M; Google Scholar), The Politics of Prestige: Increasing Ideological Discrimination in Law School Rankings, 1 Geo. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y Online ___ (2024):

This study utilizes a novel metric to measure bias in law school rankings. The result of an astounding 53.14 spot rankings disparity attributable to political ideology elicits discussion regarding numerous aspects of rankings, academia, and bias. Combined with other, documented evidence for ideological discrimination in legal academia, a strong, cumulative case is created. The lack of ideological diversity in academia that result from such bias produces widespread harm to professors, students, practicing attorneys, and society at large. Fortunately, this study concludes by proposing a simple, effective solution that circumvents this particular manifestation of ideological bias in legal academia.

This study provides a valuable framework for examining a confluence of events at this critical juncture in legal academia and in society at large. Consequently, this study is also highly informative regarding larger questions, such as what role law school rankings should play, the ethics of how law schools alter their behavior based on the rankings, and the role of ideological discrimination in legal education and the practice of law. Finally, the corresponding increase in political partisanship in society with increasing ideological disparity in the law school rankings calls in to question the level of subjectivity involved in peer rankings. These novel findings should serve as a powerful catalyst to spark future research in related areas.

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