POLS 313 - US Census: The Politics of Counting (4)

Explores the politics behind and around the US Census, the process by which the US government counts the number of people living in the United States every ten years. In this course, we will discuss who gets counted, how the process is conducted, and why the official count misses so much of the population. We will also dig into the implications this process has for redistricting & representation, federal funding allocations, the provision of government services, and how we think about race, ethnicity, and identity in American politics. The course will particularly focus on the most recent past census and upcoming population counts as lenses by which to understand the politics around this critical but flawed government process. See department chair.