Blab Politics
Johns Hopkins Expands Ideological Pluralism with New School, Hires Controversial Economist Peter Arcidiacono
Johns Hopkins University announced in October 2023 that it will open a School of Government and Policy in Washington, D.C., with a target launch in 2027 or 2028. The new school will recruit about 40 faculty who are described as “heterodox” and who come from a range of disciplines, including economics, history, philosophy, political science and sociology.
A key hire for the school is economist Peter S. Arcidiacono, who left Duke University to join Hopkins as vice dean of the new school. Arcidiacono earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1999 and has been a fellow of the Econometric Society since 2018. He is best known for research that has been cited in the 2023 Supreme Court decision that ended race‑based affirmative action in higher‑education admissions.
According to the university’s announcement, Arcidiacono’s work shows that affirmative action can be harmful to minority students who are not academically prepared. He has also published on the underreporting of white police killings and on the economic benefits of gig‑economy work.
President Ronald J. Daniels, who has served as Hopkins’ president since 2009, has positioned the school as part of a broader effort to increase ideological diversity on campus. Daniels authored the 2021 book What Universities Owe Democracy, in which he argues that universities must foster pluralistic thinking to support democratic institutions.
The school’s founding dean, William G. Howell, a former professor at the University of Chicago, said the school’s mission is “to build an ideologically diverse team of scholars who are willing to engage contrary views.” Howell noted that the school received 2,500 applications and that it has already hired faculty who are “right‑of‑center and left‑of‑center.”
Hopkins has also expanded its pluralism efforts through the Agora Institute, a center that operates outside departmental control. The institute, which opened a new glass building in May 2024, employs about 25 scholars, lecturers and fellows. According to the institute’s website, its funding comes from the university and external donors.
Faculty at Agora include historian Louis Hyman, economist Simon Halliday, and political scientist Steve Teles. Halliday, who left a tenured position in 2024, now directs the institute’s Center for Economy and Society. He oversees a major in Moral and Political Economy that requires students to read works from Adam Smith to Karl Marx.
The institute has also hosted a mentorship program for conservative‑leaning students in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). The program, launched last year, offers up to $50,000 in grants for joint research projects, events and courses. Fifteen grants have been awarded so far, including a joint course on liberal education taught by AEI’s Ben Storey and Hopkins’ Robbie Shilliam.
Student engagement has grown as well. The university’s Political Union debate club, which brings together campus Republicans and Democrats, received a $10,000 grant from Hopkins. According to the club’s organizer, Aneesh Swaminathan, the club has hosted six debates and sees about 60 students attending.
Despite these initiatives, some Hopkins faculty remain cautious. Sociology department chair Andrew Perrin said hiring is based on scholarly merit and that “hiring people based on their politics is a bad way to do academic work.” He noted that the department has hired sociologists whose work challenges field orthodoxies but that political orientation is not a hiring criterion.
The university’s pluralism strategy faces institutional hurdles. Departments retain control over hiring and are wary of perceived ideological quotas. Daniels has used persuasion and funding to create centers like Agora, but he has not announced any policy that would mandate ideological diversity in departmental hires.
In summary, Johns Hopkins is actively pursuing a campus culture that encourages debate across the political spectrum. The new School of Government and Policy, the Agora Institute, and partnerships with AEI are key components of this strategy. Whether these efforts will shift the university’s overall ideological balance remains to be seen, but the university has already taken concrete steps to bring heterodox scholars into its faculty ranks.
A key hire for the school is economist Peter S. Arcidiacono, who left Duke University to join Hopkins as vice dean of the new school. Arcidiacono earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1999 and has been a fellow of the Econometric Society since 2018. He is best known for research that has been cited in the 2023 Supreme Court decision that ended race‑based affirmative action in higher‑education admissions.
According to the university’s announcement, Arcidiacono’s work shows that affirmative action can be harmful to minority students who are not academically prepared. He has also published on the underreporting of white police killings and on the economic benefits of gig‑economy work.
President Ronald J. Daniels, who has served as Hopkins’ president since 2009, has positioned the school as part of a broader effort to increase ideological diversity on campus. Daniels authored the 2021 book What Universities Owe Democracy, in which he argues that universities must foster pluralistic thinking to support democratic institutions.
The school’s founding dean, William G. Howell, a former professor at the University of Chicago, said the school’s mission is “to build an ideologically diverse team of scholars who are willing to engage contrary views.” Howell noted that the school received 2,500 applications and that it has already hired faculty who are “right‑of‑center and left‑of‑center.”
Hopkins has also expanded its pluralism efforts through the Agora Institute, a center that operates outside departmental control. The institute, which opened a new glass building in May 2024, employs about 25 scholars, lecturers and fellows. According to the institute’s website, its funding comes from the university and external donors.
Faculty at Agora include historian Louis Hyman, economist Simon Halliday, and political scientist Steve Teles. Halliday, who left a tenured position in 2024, now directs the institute’s Center for Economy and Society. He oversees a major in Moral and Political Economy that requires students to read works from Adam Smith to Karl Marx.
The institute has also hosted a mentorship program for conservative‑leaning students in partnership with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). The program, launched last year, offers up to $50,000 in grants for joint research projects, events and courses. Fifteen grants have been awarded so far, including a joint course on liberal education taught by AEI’s Ben Storey and Hopkins’ Robbie Shilliam.
Student engagement has grown as well. The university’s Political Union debate club, which brings together campus Republicans and Democrats, received a $10,000 grant from Hopkins. According to the club’s organizer, Aneesh Swaminathan, the club has hosted six debates and sees about 60 students attending.
Despite these initiatives, some Hopkins faculty remain cautious. Sociology department chair Andrew Perrin said hiring is based on scholarly merit and that “hiring people based on their politics is a bad way to do academic work.” He noted that the department has hired sociologists whose work challenges field orthodoxies but that political orientation is not a hiring criterion.
The university’s pluralism strategy faces institutional hurdles. Departments retain control over hiring and are wary of perceived ideological quotas. Daniels has used persuasion and funding to create centers like Agora, but he has not announced any policy that would mandate ideological diversity in departmental hires.
In summary, Johns Hopkins is actively pursuing a campus culture that encourages debate across the political spectrum. The new School of Government and Policy, the Agora Institute, and partnerships with AEI are key components of this strategy. Whether these efforts will shift the university’s overall ideological balance remains to be seen, but the university has already taken concrete steps to bring heterodox scholars into its faculty ranks.
