A publishing company is defending an ideologically motivated question included in one of its political science tests. Young America’s Foundation was alerted to the question by an anonymous tipster through the Campus Bias Tipline.
A Sage Publishing textbook titled The Logic of American Politics Tenth Edition by Samuel H. Kernell, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, Lynn Vavreck, and Timothy R. Johnson came with pre-made tests, one of which included the following question:
“Like the literacy tests and poll taxes of the Jim Crow era, you should oppose modern picture ID requirements to vote because such requirements are put in place ______.”
The correct answer listed was “to raise the costs of voting for racial and ethnic minorities.” 
YAF reached out to a University of Houston professor who administered the test and found that she was unaware of the question, immediately removing it and offering extra credit to students who find similar inaccuracies.
A spokesperson for University of Houston told YAF they were going to look into the situation.
Global Vice President of Corporate Communications at SAGE Publishing, Clive Parry, defended the clearly ideologically motivated question, telling YAF these kind of questions “…are an essential part of the learning process in political science that requires the student to understand the motivations behind actions and decisions made…”
According to Sage Publishing’s website, the book is used for Intro to American Government college courses across the nation.
It’s unclear what other schools are using this textbook and its corresponding tests.
This wasn’t some lone wolf, leftist professor. This was a massive publishing company responsible for educating a large swath of students. The potential for indoctrination is much, much larger. These kinds of textbooks are used at schools nationwide and have the capability of reaching hundreds of thousands of students. Students must continue to be vigilant in their classes and call out bias where they find it.
