The erosion of public policies which support workplace justice: A review of the Davis-Bacon Act

This thesis explores the ethical foundations of public policies which support workplace justice, using the Davis-Bacon Act as the principle example. The thesis argues that Davis-Bacon is not best considered as "pro-union" legislation, nor is cost-benefit analysis the best approach to understanding its importance. Instead, primary examination of the Davis-Bacon Act should be focused upon the policy's ethical basis and should not be sacrificed in cost-benefit analysis based upon "free market" efficiency. The Davis-Bacon Act achieves distributive justice with benefits for the general pubic, construction workers and their communities, and construction companies. The Davis-Bacon Act is defended as an effective method to support or expand the middle class economically and ideologically, and is an example of the Aristotelean ethos to balance conflicting interests within society to achieve social stability and harmony.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Ethics and Policy Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1999

Author dc:creator

• Foregard, Susan

Contributors dc:contributor

• Alan Zundel

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/971

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1970