Public contracting, policy preferences and minority business enterprises
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About three years ago a Special Issue of the International Journal of Public Administration focused on the topic Government Set-Asides, Minority Business Development, and Publi Contracting. (l) Much of the discussion in the issue addressed race conscious government set-aside programs in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. (2) The decision declared unconstitutional a local government minority business set-aside provision designed to help minority business enterprises (MBEs) obtain government contracts. At the time, the decision was applicable only to state and local governmental jurisdictions. (3) Government set-asides involve the practice of providing minority contractors and subcontracting a certain percentage of a public jurisdiction's contract dollars. In 1995 the Supreme Court in Adarand v. Pena (4) extended the Croson ruling to include set-aside programs in federal agencies. This Special Issues examines and discusses the Adarand decision and the developments that have followed. The first article by Mitchell F. Rice, Federal Set-Asides Policy and Minority Business Contracting: Understanding the Adarand Decision, reviews the Adarand decision and discusses the implications of the decision for minority business development. The next article by Audrey L. Mathews and Mitchell F. Rice, Adarand v. Pena: Turning Challenges Into Opportunities, uses a case study of two public preference programs to suggest how Adarand requirements may be successfully utilized to maintain set-aside preference programs. The third article by Shelton Rhodes, Mirmative Action Review Report to the Presidents: Implications of Military Affirmative Actions Programs to Current and New Millennium Affirmative Action Programs, reviews the Affirmative Action Review: Report to the President which was ordered by President Clinton soon after the Adarand decision. Rhodes considers the implications of the possible applicability of the successes of affirmative action and equal opportunity in the military, which is highlighted in the Report, to other public and private organizations. The final article by Wilbur C., Rich, Presidents and Minority Set-Aside Policy: Race, Gender and Small Opportunities, analyzes the impact of presidential leadership on minority set-asides policy and shows how politicians use set-asides to facilitate exchanges and cooperation with the business elites. 1999, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
