America's contentious political atmosphere has deeply impacted the culture of higher education, leading some to ask how the ideologically progressive college campus became a high-stakes site for conservative mobilization. In The Channels of Student Activism, Amy J. Binder and Jeffrey L. Kidder carefully analyze the relationship between political activism on college campuses and the broader US political landscape to show how combative on-campus discourse feeds the partisan divide off campus. They show that while progressive students often outnumber conservatives on college campuses, liberal campus organizing is often myopically focused inward at the university system, whose failure to live up to progressive ideals stokes tension. Conversely, conservative campus groups find support in national right-leaning institutions, forming an effective pipeline for ongoing political engagement that rewards media-savvy political provocations on campuses. In analyzing collegiate activism from the left, right, and center, Binder and Kidder show exactly how politically engaged college students are channeled into two distinct forms of mobilization and why these structures have profound consequences for the future of American politics. Book jacket.