Why did affirmative action in housing fail during the Nixon era? Exploringthe "institutional homes" of social policies

This paper contrasts the establishment of affirmative action in employment with the failure of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish aggressive, race-conscious policies addressing residential segre gation during the Nixon Administration. Making use of previously untapped a rchival sources from HUD and the Nixon Presidential Materials, this paper a rgues that the key to understanding these divergent outcomes is considerati on of these policies' "institutional homes." which have both direct and med iating effects on policy development. Bureaucrats in the employment bureauc racies had singular missions and clear career incentives to devise aggressi ve approaches to employment discrimination. In contrast, the fair housing s taff at HUD found itself in a disjointed bureaucracy comprised of many form erly independent agencies with multiple missions. A disadvantaged instituti onal home, like that faced by HUD's fair housing staff will tend to: encour age policy feedback that constrains rather than enables aggressive action: dilute the impact of institutional activists, increase the threat of Presid ential sanctions: and enhance the risk of "delegitimation" by other politic al actors and the media. This paper illustrates how HUD fell prey to these dangers as scandals at the Federal Housing Administration gave President Ni xon the political justification to freeze housing funds and consequently de rail the agency's desegregation efforts.