Definition
Population censuses are operations conducted by states to count and collect statistical information on all persons living in a given territory. Typically undertaken once every 10 years, censuses play a number of important roles in the facilitation of the administration of a state, including in the allocation of funding to regional governments and the delimitation of electoral districts. They also provide information that is used for the planning of infrastructure and service provision, and form the “backbone” of national statistical systems, allowing for the construction of sample frames that ensure that surveys are representative.
In deeply divided societies, the census can be the site of significant mobilization or contestation. The categories of ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, or language that are employed in censuses confer recognition on groups and may contribute to the construction of identities. Since the resources and political power available to groups can...
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Cooley, L. (2020). Census Politics in Deeply Divided Societies. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_19-2
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Census Politics in Deeply Divided Societies- Published:
- 16 June 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_19-2
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Census Politics in Deeply Divided Societies- Published:
- 02 December 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_19-1