An Examination of Support or Non-Support for Affirmative Action, Race-Targeted and Income-Targeted Policies

Abstract

Many quantitative studies attempt to identify the causes of public support in America for race-targeted, income-targeted, and affirmative action programs. But results are mixed and the theorized predictors of income-targeting support in particular are rather anemic in their predictive power. We identify several possible conceptual and methodological shortcomings in the literature, and provide an alternative examination based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of data drawn from a convenience sample. The results are revealing and suggest directions for future research.