Diversity and affirmative action are subjects that tend to elicit some form of emotion, either strongly supportive or strongly opposed. In Diversity and Affirmative Action in Public Service, Walter Broadnax has drawn together a collection of essays that provides the reader with a historical overview of the evolution of these concepts within a public service context. The book opens with a discussion of representative bureaucracy and, using that material as a backdrop, proceeds to provide highly useful snapshots of the evolution of these concepts over the last several decades. The reader will be able to see clearly how the debate regarding this important topic has changed and matured over the last thirty years.The introduction and the individual chapter introductions bring together the perspectives of the practitioner and the academician. Many of the selected pieces have strong practical applications, and a substantial number of them were written by practitioners themselves.
