Good Numbers Make a Good Democracy: Kenneth Prewitt on the Census

It’s census season in the United States and some may be asking what exactly the census is, how it’s done, why. On this episode, Dr. Patrick Spero talks with former Director of the United States Census Bureau Dr. Kenneth Prewitt about the history of the census, the various methods that census-takers use to count the population, and the challenges the census faces in this time of increasing political polarization.

Dr. Kenneth Prewitt is the Carnegie Professor of Public Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs and Director of The Future of Scholarly Knowledge at Columbia University. From 1998-2001, Dr. Prewitt was the Director of the United States Census Bureau and in November 2018 he gave a talk at an APS Meeting titled, “Can the Census Be Gerrymandered?”

Full Recording of Dr. Prewitt’s APS Meeting Talk, “Can the Census Be Gerrymandered?”