Census Debate

A detailed Summary of Census Debate

Ever since 1790 when Thomas Jefferson oversaw the U.S.'s first Census it was clear that determining the exact population would be impossible. It is a tradition and a duty of the U.S. Government to hold a decennial census. This year, the 2000 Census is underway right now and the numbers won't be turned in until sometime next year. This year's Census is going too be as tedious as ever. The Census is used for congressional apportionment and to determine where the millions and millions of dollars in federal funds should go. The main problem with the current method of conducting the Census is that it undercounts millions of American people, especially minorities. The debate on the Census today is over whether or not the Census Bureau should use (computer estimation) "sampling" to determine an "Actual Enumeration". The U.S. Congress needs to pass legislation giving the Census Bureau the authority to use the most accurate procedure to determine an "Actual Enumeration"

In Article I section 2, clause 3, The Constitution asks for an "Actual Enumeration" of the American population every ten years. The Census is important for more than just the government. It is also a huge help for private citizens and non-governmental institutio

The biggest and most important problem with the Census is the undercount. Every census has undercounted a portion of the population but every year the number of undercounted people gets bigger. Minorities are the most affected by the undercount, typically found in the inner cities (Bournias, 3). The common reason's for people not responding or giving false information are Poverty, lack of Education, lack of English and Spanish speaking proficiencies, irregular living arrangements, violation of zoning or health codes, and the risk of losing eligibility for government programs (Cohn). In 1990 A Group of independent companies paid for a non-governmental to use the PES system of computer sampling with the information from the Federal Census (Wright, 2). The Census the government used came up 248,709,873 residents, The PES system came up with 252,712,821 (Wright, 2). By 1992 about a year after both Censuses were finished, the Census Bureau came out with a Quality-Check that could account for 253,186,650 people living in the U.S. at that time (Wright, 2). This shows that computer sampling is more accurate then the methods used now. The worst part about the undercount is that it undercounts the people and places that need those Federal Funds the most.

ns that need demographic information. More importantly the Census determines the allocation of federal funds. The 180 billion dollars in federal tax money the states receive is determined by the Census (Wright, 1). The Census is also responsible for determining how many of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives each state gets. It is very important for the United States that the census is as accurate as humanly or statistically possible.

The Constitution calls for an "Actual Enumeration" of the U.S. population. It is hard to interpret, but calling for an "A

Some common words found in the essay are:
Census Bureau, Actual Enumeration, US's Census, Supreme Court, Federal Funds, Enumeration American, English Spanish, Census Wright, Computer Estimation, Census Williams, census bureau, actual enumeration, computer sampling, sampling census, federal funds, census act, department commerce, wright 2, census census, accurate procedure, authority accurate procedure, census bureau authority, giving census bureau, bureau authority accurate, accurate procedure determine,

Approximate Word count = 1237
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History