Most Americans support the elimination of race and gender prejudice and inequality, yet attitudes toward solutions have fluctuated since the civil rights movement began. A heated debate over the explicit use of race- and gender-based categories has taken center stage in the 1990s, and all eyes are on California, a precedent-setting state since establishing its first antidiscrimination policies in 1934 (federal policies followed almost a decade later). Paul Ong's collection of cogent social policy analysis and careful research intervene in these debates with grounded and complex assessments of the present and future of affirmative action. Chapters explore programs and outcomes in higher education, federal and state contracting, public employment, and minority- and women-owned businesses.

The impact and ramifications of cases argued before the Supreme Court are felt for decades, if not centuries. Only the most important issues of the day and the land make it to the nine justices, and the effects of their decisions reach far beyond the litigants. Under discussion here are five of the most momentous Supreme Court cases ever. They include Marbury v. Madison, Roe v. Wade, Dred Scott, Brown v. Board of Education, and The Pentagon Papers. An absorbing exploration of enormously controversial events, the series details, highlights, and clarifies the complex legal arguments of both sides. Placing the cases within their historical context (though they ultimately emerge as works in progress), the authors reveal each decision's relevance both to the past and the present. the result is a fascinating glimpse across the centuries into the workings of the Supreme Court and the American judicial system.

In 1973 and 1974, the University of California, Davis, denied admission to applicant Allan Bakke. He decided to challenge the state university's use of affirmative action, a program that allowed the school to consider racial background as a qualification for acceptance. Although the policy aimed to help disadvantaged groups gain access to competitive higher education institutions, Bakke and his attorneys claimed it often resulted in discrimination against other groups. Your students will explore the complexities of the debates over affirmative action, analyze the legal justifications from the legal system's highest authorities, and ultimately be able to craft their own understandings and arguments surrounding this policy.

The impact of civil service and affirmative action programs on minority employment in the law enforcement setting is addressed in this monograph. Each stage of the federal government's program to insure equal employment opportunity from nondiscrimination through affirmative action has been accompanied by acrimonious public debate, focusing particularly on affirmative action, which is designed to develop guidelines, timetables, and other measurable indexes by which employers can be held accountable for their progress, or lack of it, in implementing national policy. The principal burden of finding answers to the complex issues surrounding minority employment has fallen to the courts. Numerous judicial decisions, with enormous implications for police agencies, have been translated into procedural regulations covering the measures, techniques, criteria, and processes that may be used for employment decisions and employment selection. Several employment practices which may create problems in the area of employment discrimination are included. Whether due to enlightened police leadership, community pressures, political circumstances, civil service intervention, or a combination of all these factors, the racial characteristics of American policing have begun to change substantially over the past decade. Ten years ago, approximately 4 percent of the sworn police personnel in the nation were racial minorities; today, that figure has risen to 10 percent. Findings of the public service administration show that one of the most important factors in changing the nature and quality of policing is the courage and commitment of police leadership. To the extent that increasing minority and female participation in the ranks of sworn police officers is a crucial part of this change process, there is the added finding that such efforts are not enhanced by a reliance on the regulatory role of civil service. Several suggestions for institutionalizing this change process are noted.