Diversity and Democracy

Abstract

For decades, American law has debated, inconclusively, whether the great legal pronouncements against race discrimination permit “affirmative action.” As a means of ending much of this debate, this article argues that it may be a good time for Congress to answer this question directly. For decades, it was assumed that affirmative action would never be accepted explicitly by legislatures; it would have to be adopted through less democratic means. But attitudes have changed, and the time might be ripe for straighter talk and a democratic solution to the affirmative action debate.

Keywords: Race Discrimination, Affirmative Action

JEL Classification: K10, K19, K30, K39