American-Studies Journal Articles Biased Against U.S., Analysis Says Douglas Belkin 5–6 minutes

Jan. 22, 2026 5:00 am ET

Has American studies become anti-American?

A report by a left-of-center think tank being released Thursday reviewed three years of articles in the discipline’s flagship journal and characterized the scholarship as distorted, one-sided and “unrelentingly negative.”

The analysis by the nonprofit Progressive Policy Institute reviewed 96 papers in American Quarterly published from 2022 through 2024. The authors determined 80% were critical of America, 20% were neutral and none was positive. American Quarterly is the flagship journal of the American-studies field.

“American Quarterly essentially erases virtually anything positive about the American experience,” the report says. “Instead of providing a rich and varied collection of positive, critical, and mixed accounts of America’s history, literature, and culture, American Quarterly paints a one-sided and unrelentingly negative portrait.”

Jason Ruiz, editor of American Quarterly, disputed the notion that the journal has a political agenda. He said the publication showcases the sharpest research in the field. Between 5% and 10% of submissions are accepted, subject to peer review.

“We don’t make editorial decisions based on a so-called positive or negative tone,” he said. “I don’t know of any serious-minded academic journals that would see their mission as national boosterism. It’s not our job. Our job is to interrogate, to explore, to dig deeper into systems of knowledge, systems of practice.”

About 150 colleges offer a major in American studies, and many more schools offer courses in the subject, which covers U.S. history and culture. Some ideas refined among scholars eventually find their way into the curriculum and textbooks of college lecture halls and high-school classrooms, where student politics and perceptions are shaped.

Conservatives have long argued that without a cohesive national story in which citizens can take pride, Americans will turn against one another. President Trump has decried elite universities as hotbeds of liberal indoctrination and campaigned to eradicate what he sees as bias. Progressives counter that people must understand America’s flaws to confront and improve them.

A 2023 WSJ/NORC poll found that 23% of adults under age 30 said patriotism was very important to them personally, compared with 59% of people ages 65 or older. Between 1998 and 2023, the percentage of Americans who said patriotism was very important to them fell to 38% from 70%.

Thursday’s report sorted papers into three categories. Articles tagged “critical” focused on a negative event, idea or time, including subjects of racism, sexism and imperialism.

Essays were to be coded as “positive” if they focused on a positive event, such as the American victory over Nazi Germany, and “neutral” if they provided a mixed picture.

Of the 96 articles reviewed, 77 were deemed critical, 19 neutral and 0 positive. The articles deemed critical included an essay that celebrated the “gathering anti-American force” among academics in the American-studies field. Another asserted the National Football League treats players like minstrel performers “required to entertain white folk while ensuring that pre-existing racial hierarchies remain unscathed.”

The authors of the analysis decried a lack of articles on topics such as ingenuity in the U.S., why Americans have won many Nobel Prizes or landed people on the moon.

The Progressive Policy Institute, which launched the project, is a public-policy think tank founded by centrist Democrats in 1989. It houses the American Identity Project, which tries to help schools and colleges promote a common American identity.

Richard Kahlenberg, an education analyst who has advocated against racial and legacy preferences in college admissions, leads the project. David Brooks, an author and columnist, and William Galston, an opinion columnist at The Wall Street Journal, whose opinion pages operate independently from the news department, are members of the American Identity Project’s advisory group.

“There is nothing wrong with being critical of America; I’m critical of America,” said Kahlenberg, who co-wrote the report. “But the ultimate goal of American studies is to pursue the truth about America, the good and the bad.”