Public_Administration_Affirmative_Action

The Affirmative action program is designed to bring into the public service greater numbers of citizens who were largely excluded from public employment in previous years; also, the use of goals and timetables for hiring and promoting women, blacks, and other minorities as part of an equal employment opportunity program. The National government has gone a long way, under executive orders, such as executive order 10925 (1961) and provisions of legislation such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1972 Equal Opportunity Act, to ensure that woman and minorities are given at least strong consideration, if not outright preferential treatment, in decisions to hire government employees. The term "affirmative action" was first used in the United States. President John F. Kennedy signed an Executive Order 10925 on March 6, 1961, and it was used to refer to measures to achieve non-discrimination. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued an Executive Order, which required federal contractors to take "affirmative action" to hire without regard to race, religion and national origin. In 1968, gender was added to the anti-discrimination list. The 1964 Civil Rights Act was a landmark legislation prohibiting discrimination by the private sector in both employment and housing. The 1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act had amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and was designed to strengthen the authority of the Equal Employment Opportunity commission to enforce antidiscrimination laws in state and local governments as well as in private organizations with fifteen or more employees. Equity Pay Act of 1963 had prohibited gender-based (or other) discrimination in pay for those endangered engaged the same type of work In order for America to keep its democratic government, there had to be something done about the representativeness or diversity in our major industries. There were claims made about women, gays, lesbians, African Americans, and Latino’s being excluded from decision making in governments, businesses, industries, the legal system, religious hierarchies, labor organizations, and even political parties. Many people argued that something had to change so that businesses and government programs can become more sufficiently responsive to the needs, interests, and preferences of the minority or discriminated type of groups. Affirmative action is intended as an attempt to promote equal opportunity. It is often instituted in government and educational settings to ensure that minority groups within a society are included in all programs. The justification for affirmative action is that it helps to compensate for past discrimination, persecution or exploitation by the ruling class of a culture, and to address existing discrimination. Although, most employers follow the equal opportunity employment program, they still have to make sure they hire people with diversity within their company. Part of this program explains that there cannot be a quota considered for any type of group. Quotas are not legal in the United States. No employer, university, or other entity may create a set number required for each race. For example, a company hires two Hispanics, two African Americans and decides to hire the rest of their employees with the same type of background or race; it is still considered a form of discrimination. Not all countries believe in the same concepts as the American’s democratic government. For example, some Brazilian Universities (State and Federal) have created systems of preferred admissions (quotas) for racial minorities (blacks and native Brazilians), the poor and people with disabilities. There are already quotas of up to 20% of vacancies reserved for the disabled in the civil public services. I can understand where Brazil create this quota of a discriminated group, but I can imagine how the non quota students must feel, being denied to go to the University due to not being poor enough or a certain race. There should be stipends and financial relief available for all students who are trying to complete their education. Starting in the 1970’s national government guidelines for affirmative action to remedy past discrimination was implemented. In order for Educational institutions, local police forces, and other programs to receive federal funding, they had to implement the affirmative action program. Ronald Reagan initially started to make affirmative action changes with the Supreme Court and later on the Bush Administration continued to revise these programs and reverse discrimination with in a work environment as well as public services that the government has to offer. In some countries which have laws on racial equality, affirmative action is rendered illegal because it does not treat all races equally. This approach of equal treatment is sometimes described as being "color blind", in hopes that it is effective against discrimination without engaging in reverse discrimination. In such countries, the focus tends to be on ensuring equal opportunity and, for example, targeted advertising campaigns to encourage ethnic minority candidates to join the police force. This is sometimes described as "positive action." In the U.S., affirmative action's original purpose was to pressure institutions into compliance with the nondiscrimination mandate of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Acts do not cover veterans, people with disabilities, or people over 40. These groups are protected from discrimination under different laws. Affirmative action has been the subject of numerous court cases, and has been contested on constitutional grounds. In 2003, a Supreme Court decision (Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 US 306 - Supreme Court 2003) concerning affirmative action in universities allowed educational institutions to consider race as a factor in admitting students, but ruled that strict point systems are unconstitutional.