This volume explores American attitudes toward affirmative action policies through an extensive study of a national sample of university faculty. By examining views about affirmative action in academia within a framework that outlines the larger issues involved in using affirmative action to promote equality of opportunity for historical victims of discrimination, Stephanie Witt offers new insights into the competing values in American society which the policy of affirmative action serves to bring into conflict. She finds important differences in the perceptions of white males as opposed...

This book examines anti-gay voter initiatives from both the political science and communication perspectives. In recent years, anti-gay initiatives sponsored by conservative Christian groups have been placed on the ballot in several states. This development provides an opportunity to evaluate the initiative process as a way of resolving public policy questions on this divisive topic. Using examples and data from Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Maine, Missouri, Florida, California, and Washington, the authors discuss the emergence of the new religious right and why anti-gay initiatives are...