Affirmative Action
As the titles suggest, both these books address affirmative action in a "Pro-Con" or "For and Against" format. Though the Taxman-Piscataway case on the Supreme Court’s docket is now moot, these two books obviously address a topic of current interest and political/legal importance. As I was preparing this review, an advertisement arrived from a publisher with four texts (three of them new paperbacks) focusing on the topic of affirmative action. Literature on the topic is mushrooming. Affirmative action is one of the "hot-button" issues of contemporary American politics and certainly an area within which there have been some interesting and contentious developments in public law.
Taken together, these two publications provide a fairly rich source of legal evolution, historical events, political dynamics, ideological perspectives, and the current debate on affirmative action. Unless one is interested in each incident or nuance, these publications may suffice for the scholar or citizen who wants to keep abreast of recent developments concerning this issue. The authors have addressed the major legal cases, legislation, publications, participants and administrative challenges associated with precepts and practices of affirmative action.
Both books contain two major essays, one favoring and the other opposing, affirmative action. That makes four central essays, with each essay representing a different perspective on the topic. Affirmative action can be discussed with an emphasis on law, marked by references to legislation and case analysis of court decisions and judicial opinions. Affirmative action can be discussed with a normative/ideological emphasis, marked by references to the history of political ideas and prevailing norms that may define the American political culture. Affirmative action can be discussed with an emphasis on practices, emphasizing names, dates, events and attempts to apply principles and law to programs or policies within organizations over time. Affirmative action can be addressed in terms of logical, operational and administrative challenges, focusing on issues of measurement, accountability, and implementation consequences. The four major essays presented in these two publications provide some good examples of those emphases and orientations.
Albert G. Mosley authors the "Pro" essay in the Mosley-Capaldi book. Almost half of his discussion details the legislative and judicial background of affirmative action wherein he describes the features of major legislation (Civil Rights Act of 1964) as well as the judicial decisions that have interpreted the legislation while reviewing organizational policies and procedures since the l960’s. His is an informative and efficient summary of legislative and judicial activities. In the latter part of his essay he defends the merits of various practices and precepts. He argues that, despite confusion concerning meaning and implementation, affirmative action has been beneficial to blacks, women, disabled, and elderly. Most of the vociferous opposition, according to Mosley, is due to the increasing "vulnerability" of the white working class in today’s global economy.
Nicholas Capaldi presents the "Con" argument in the Mosley/Capaldi book. Beginning with five major definitions of affirmative action, 1) open search, 2) punitive, 3) minority set-asides, 4) backward compensation, and 5) forward preferential (p.68), Capaldi makes a frontal attack. Even [next page]