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Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Disciplinary Approaches to Identifying Public Contracting Discrimination in the United States

By George R. La Noue.

Published by The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

In the United States, widespread affirmative action programs in employment, education, and public contracting exist that use race, ethnicity or gender classifications to create more equal outcomes or reward political constituencies. Courts have ruled that such programs employing preferences in contracting must be limited to situations that remedy identified previous discrimination. Consequently, since 1989 about 250 disparity studies examining discrimination in contracting have been commissioned by governments costing over $140 million. These studies usually employ the talents of economists, sociologists, political scientists, lawyers, historians and, even, anthropologists. When litigation occurs, courts have often responded critically to the data, methodologies, and conclusions of these studies and have set new rules for them, but the judicial process is not well suited to direct social science research. This paper will examine the continual dialogue between courts and social scientists struggling over the complex questions of identifying contemporary contracting discrimination.

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Volume 4, Issue 11, pp.47-58. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 1.153MB).

Dr. George R. La Noue

Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Departments of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, USA