ABSTRACT
"Affirmative action" is a term deeply embedded in the language of public personnel administration. Nonetheless, its precise meaning for administrative thought and action is elusive. The distinction between affirmative action and non-discrimination is the difference between the active and the passive mode. It is illustrated by the difference between management by objectives and incrementalism. Affirmative action guidelines require specified objectives, usually translated into numerical quotas, as minimum goals for the employment of minority individuals and women. Affirmative action is the key to achieving equal employment opportunity for all. And only with equal employment opportunity for all can public jurisdictions conduct their personnel affairs in accordance with merit principles. The League recommends that affirmative action plans include: "use of employment goals, and in the case of unsupported disparity of treatment among races or sexes, quantifiable remedial action for those groups found to be suffering from the disparate treatment."
