“Mismatched” Objectives: Evaluating the Affirmative Action Debate

Abstract

Legal evaluation of affirmative action is structured as a two part analysis of means and ends. However, both legal and empirical analyses suggest that presently the end for which certain means are employed has not been clearly articulated. The failure to identify an objective frustrates the public’s ability to evaluate, and the administrator’s ability to narrowly tailor, existing programs. When elected officials and the public are being asked to choose between color blind and race conscious programs, it is problematic that we lack the tools necessary for thorough assessment. With the DOJ and Center for Equal Opportunity’s recent attacks on existing programs, which focus on the failure to narrowly tailor, the impediment to design is also troubling.