The Declining Salience of Affirmative Action in Federal Personnel Management

Abstract

The salience of affirmative action in federal personnel management will decline in the 1980s as a result of: (1) the failure of affirmative action to win a strong national consensus in its favor, which will reduce the organizational coherence and political integrity of affirmative action programs; (2) a continuing constitutional stalemate that makes it risky to pursue proactive affirmative action in the public sector with much forcefulness; and (3) the rise of new concerns in public personnel management, such as executive leadership, retrenchment, and productivity. However, the decline of affirmative action need not be equated with a reduction in progress toward the achievement of EEO and a socially representative public workforce.

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