I UNDERTOOK THIS PROJECT for two reasons—to deepen my own understanding of some of the central social policy issues of the day and to communicate what I have learned to other conscientious citizens who want to dig into them more deeply and need a balanced, objective synthesis to do so.
Along the way, a number of distinguished experts in these fields were kind and patient enough to answer my questions, refer me to relevant sources, and in some cases offer detailed comments on draft chapters in their areas of specialization. They include Hank Aaron, Steve Ansolabehere, Adam Cox, Bob Doar, Nicole Garnett, Rick Garnett, Ron Haskins, Steve Heyman, Sandy Jencks, Ray LaRaja, Chip Lupu, David Martin, Larry Mead, Shep Melnick, Michael Olivas, Nate Persily, Jon Rauch, Cristina Rodriguez, Marc Rosenblum, Rick Sander, Belle Sawhill, David Shapiro, Laura Tach, Jack Weinstein, and Robin Wilson. I am greatly indebted to these wise, generous, busy, and exceedingly well-informed scholars. Their colleagueship inspires my own.
Four law students provided excellent research assistance, especially during the early stages of my work: David Barillari (Yale Law School class of 2016), Rachel Hecht (Yale Law School class of 2017), Marissa Roy (Yale Law School class of 2017), and Tony Cheng (NYU Law School class of 2018), who also prepared the index. I presented an early version of the introductory chapter to the Berkeley Law School faculty. NYU Law School has provided me an institutional home away from my Yale home in New York City for more than fifteen years through the deanships of John Sexton, Ricky Revesz, and now Trevor Morrison. Their generosity, and that of their fine faculty, have been remarkable and invaluable.
Parts of chapters 5 and 6 are adapted from my article, “Affirmative Action: Past, Present, and Future,” originally published in the Yale Law & Policy Review, volume 20, issue 1, 2002. Much of the material on religious diversity was published in 2003 by Harvard University Press’s Belknap Press in my book Diversity in America: Keeping Government at a Safe Distance and is reproduced here, with some updates, and with the permission of the original publishers. Specific page numbers can be found in the endnotes to these discussions.
Peter Dougherty, the visionary director of Princeton University Press, his senior editor Eric Crahan, and others on the Press’s staff provided discerning intelligence and other valuable support during the book’s gestation period. My thanks as well to the anonymous outside readers whose comments made this a better book. Alas, I alone am responsible for any errors.
Finally, I thank Marcy, my beloved wife of fifty years. Without her, as the quip goes, I would have written this book much more quickly.
November 2016