Set-Aside Programs

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer defines set-aside programs as programs that go beyond the concept of affirmative action, designed to create equal opportunity, and actually force companies to contract a certain percentage of businesses owned by minorities and women. The writer argues that these types of programs, while beneficial to some, are actually harmful to others in that, if a specific percentage of work must be contracted to specific groups of individuals, then other individuals are, out of necessity, not able to perform the work, even though they may be more competent or more able to complete the necessary task. This paper examines set-aside programs using utilitarian and deontological considerations of ethics, and shows that programs involving affirmative action, particularly those of set aside programs, are both unnecessary, and are not morally acceptable.

From the Paper:

"At the same time, affirmative action, as a concept, may also be permissible from a deontological standpoint. According to deontology, actions done out of duty, rather than as a means to an end, that can be done consistently by all humans reflect good, and thus will always be ethical acts. Since some would view that compensation to those who have been victimized in the past is a duty, and that compensating for past wrongdoings is a duty that should be performed by all human beings, then such actions must be moral. This concept can be thought of as compensatory justice. Additionally, according to deontologist perspectives, the most qualified person has a "right" to the job at hand, regardless of the end consequences. As a result, discrimination against such individuals is morally unacceptable, and thus, affirmative action programs provide the steps to ensure this "duty", to provide the "right" for employment if one is qualified, is a morally acceptable action."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hettinger, E. (1997). What's wrong with reverse discrimination? In Mappes & Zembaty (Ed.) Social Ethics, 5th ed, (pp. 305-306). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill Publishing.
• Hollar, B.P. (1997). Affirmative action. Retrieved March 2, 2006 from Shenandoah University. Web site: http://www.su.edu/faculty/bpennhol/Phil150.AffAction.html.
• Lambeth, E.B. (1986). Committed journalism: An ethic for the profession. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
• Lidz, J. (2001). There'll be no desert for you young man: Affirmative action as a numbers racket. Retrieved March 2, 2006 from Joel Warren Lidz, PhD. Web site: http://www.jwlidz.us/aa.html.
• Rubin, D.K. & Powers, M.B. (2003, Mar. 24). Affirmative action caught in tale of two cities' contracting Denver and Boston split on race- and sex-based preferences. Engineering News Record, 250(11), 20.

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