US Universities Face A Red Tide and A Precipice: A Neo-Nationalism and University Brief

The United States retains many aspects of a healthy open society. But there are indicators of trouble and deep divisions aroundthe meaning and importance of democratic values. This debate has significant repercussions for universities and their academic communities. In the most-simple terms, there is a red and blue state divide over the role and importance of public institutions, including universities–red representing largely rural states in which most voters vote Republicanand blue being majority Democratic voters, often withone of the two parties having majorities in their respective state legislatures.Then there are so-called purple states in which both parties are vying for dominance, but they are fewer in number.The following discusses this contemporary dynamic and its implication for higher education, and science policy. This divisive political environment and the coming presidential election in 2024 provides a window into a possible scenario that would be cataclysmic for universities, for academic freedom,for global science networks,not to mention civil liberties in a nation once exalted as example of a functional democracy: the return of Donald Trump to the presidency andcontinued Republican control of at least one branch of Congress.