Democracy suffers when government statistics fail
Dec 12, 2020
Original source: Beth Simone Noveck, “Democracy suffers when government statistics fail,” Nature Vol. 586 (October 1, 2020), 27–28
The Web was invented 30 years ago, yet 2020 is the first year that the United States’ decennial census has allowed households to respond online. This shift came in the nick of time — given the need for social distancing — and has been a (qualified) success. As of September, more than 88% of housing units have been accounted for. Some 65.5% responded online, by phone or by mail, rather than in response to the conventional knock at the door. Read more in Nature here.
