explanations of such variations (as independent variables). The explanatory variables used in this essay are (a) self-identification on the political liberal-conservative spectrum, (b) respondent perceptions of their own employment status, and (c) attitudes toward immigration to the United States.
Although decisions of the United States Supreme Court have weakened the application and scope affirmative action laws and regulations in the United States, the laws, as well as many of the regulations, remain in place. Affirmative action tended to serve as a lightening rod for people who opposed governmental intervention in the functioning of society. Further, the way that affirmative action laws and regulations were applied evolved into a system that many people viewed as quotas that penalized both the majority population group and people who were more competent and more intelligent than were others. Within the context of public perceptions, the ultimate validity of such perceptions is less important than the effect that they have on public support for the concept of affirmative action (Iyigun & Levin, 2003).
The governmental approach to assure cultural diversity and equal opportunity in organizations in the United States for more than two decades was the imposition of a mandatory affirmative action framework. Generally, affirmative action requires an organization to focus on legal requirements associated with the recruitment, hiring, promotion, and dismissal of personnel. Affirmative action legislation in the United States (at both the federal and state levels of government) established guidelines for the development and implementation of social policy with respect to equal employment opportunities and with respect to the rectification of past acts of employment discrimination against selected population groups (Federico & Sidanius, 2002).รก
The objective of rectifying the effects of past discrimination by discriminating in f...