Affirmative action is a policy or a program intended to promote access to education, employment, or housing among certain minorities and groups. The purpose of affirmative action policies is to redress the effects of past discrimination and to ensure that public institutions, such as universities, hospitals and police forces are representative of the entire population, and not a single race or group. Commonly, affirmative action is achieved through targeted recruitment programs, by preferential treatment given to applicants from designated groups, and in some cases through the use of quotas.