Footprints Through the Courts: Comparing Judicial Responses to Affirmative Action Litigation in South Africa and the United States - International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations View Footprints Through the Courts: Comparing Judicial Responses to Affirmative Action Litigation in South Africa and the United States by - International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations Footprints Through the Courts: Comparing Judicial Responses to Affirmative Action Litigation in South Africa and the United States 25 2

In South Africa and the United States, affirmative action has been used as a means for achieving equality following decades of discrimination and segregation. It has also served as a means for achieving a representative bureaucracy reflecting the demographics of the nation. In both countries, such measures have been the subject of considerable litigation, with the highest court ultimately ruling on what is permissible under the Constitution. This paper addresses similarities and differences in terms of how the courts in the two countries have approached that jurisprudence. It further discusses the implications of the two lines of litigation for employing affirmative action as a means for achieving a representative bureaucracy.

International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations