Words Matter: The Public and Affirmative Action

An attempt to put a question on the Arizona ballot to ban affirmative action became an issue in the presidential campaign this weekend. As far as the public is concerned, pollsters have found that support for affirmative action programs usually varies according to the way survey questions are worded. Terms like "merit," "extra help," "assistance" and "preference" all can have an impact on results – often a sign that the public has conflicted feelings on an issue, or that people are thinking about it in different terms from those used by researchers and advocates. A Pew Social Trends Poll in November found 60 percent who said they favored affirmative action when the programs were described as "designed to help blacks get better jobs and education." When survey participants were instead asked about programs giving "special preferences to qualified blacks in hiring and education," support dropped to 46 percent, with 40 percent saying they were opposed.

Support also varies according to race and gender. When affirmative action was mentioned but the word "preference" was not, affirmative action had the backing of 89 percent of blacks surveyed by Pew; 77 percent of the Hispanics; 52 percent of whites, and 66 percent of all women. The numbers were lower, when the word "preference" was used, with support found among 78 percent of blacks, 61 percent of Hispanics, 39 percent among all whites, and 49 percent among all women.

Optimism about race relations in the U.S. has risen steadily since 2003, when a Gallup poll found 63 percent of participants who said race relations will always be a problem and 36 percent said a solution will eventually be worked out. In 2007, 54 percent told Gallup they thought a solution would come eventually, while 43 percent disagreed.

For more on affirmative action and related public policy questions, check out our issue guide on Race.