MPC Member Publications

This database contains a listing of population studies publications written by MPC Members. Anyone can add a publication by an MPC student, faculty, or staff member to this database; new citations will be reviewed and approved by MPC administrators.

Full Citation

Title: Census Technology, Politics, and Institutional Change, 1790–2020

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2020

ISSN: 0021-8723

DOI: 10.1093/JAHIST/JAAA007

Abstract: A census is a political construct that reflects the ideological orientation of its creators. Legislators, intellectuals, and the public have contested the content and purposes of the U.S. census for 230 years. In each period, the meaning and uses of the census reflected the politics and priorities of the moment. In the 1850s, census planners suppressed information about slavery at the behest of southern legislators; in the 1880s, the census director promoted nativist theories of race suicide; and in the 1940s, census officials helped plan Japanese internment. The census is inherently political: its original purpose was reapportionment of political representation, and in virtually every decade, winners and losers of the demographic contest have debated the legitimacy of the results. In one case-the census of 1920-the results were ignored altogether and no reapportionment took place, as rural legislators feared losing power to the cities. 1 Political considerations shaped not only the content and applications of the census but also the mechanics of census taking. This essay traces the history of U.S. census data capture and processing, which we define as the methods and technologies used to transform raw census responses into statistical tables. By focusing on federal responses to specific technical challenges over a very long span, our narrative illuminates the long-run effects of shifting societal preoccupations on bureaucratic decision making. More broadly, the case study of the census reveals the critical and shifting role of state and political forces in the development of technology.

Url: https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/107/1/19/5862178

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Ruggles, Steven J; Magnuson, Diana L

Periodical (Full): Journal of American History

Issue: 1

Volume: 107

Pages: 19-51

Countries:

IPUMS NHGIS NAPP IHIS ATUS Terrapop