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The American State and Social Engineering: Policy Instruments in Affirmative Action
Author(s) -
KING DESMOND
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0491.2007.00346.x
Subject(s) - affirmative action , state (computer science) , institution , context (archaeology) , public administration , action (physics) , interpretation (philosophy) , political science , social institution , sociology , political economy , law and economics , law , social science , physics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , paleontology , computer science , biology , programming language
The American state is conventionally depicted as inactive and organizationally weak compared with the state in comparable industrial democracies, and it is sometimes depicted as weak compared with the private sector’s capacities to effect change. This interpretation stems from applying an inappropriate Weberian model of stateness. This article examines the way in which measures to implement affirmative have been employed through the policy instruments of quotas to reengineer the divisions between key groups in American society. Placed in historical context, affirmative action illustrates a powerful activism associated with the American state conceived as an institution engaged in setting and monitoring national standards.