Racial Reorganization and the United States Census 1850–1930: Mulattoes, Half-Breeds, Mixed Parentage, Hindoos, and the Mexican Race

Between 1850 and 1930, demographic upheaval in the United States was connected to reorganization of the racial order. Socially and politically recognized boundaries between groups shifted, new groups emerged, others disappeared, and notions of who belonged in which category changed. All recognized racial groups—blacks, whites, Indians, Asians, Mexicans and others—were affected. This article investigates how and why census racial classification policies changed during this period, only to stabilize abruptly before World War II. In the context of demographic transformations and their political consequences, we find that census policy in any given year was driven by a combination of scientific, political, and ideological motivations. Based on this analysis, we rethink existing theoretical approaches to censuses and racial classification, arguing that a nation’s census is deeply implicated in and helps to construct its social and political order. Censuses provide the concepts, taxonomy, and substantive information by which a nation understands its component parts as well as the contours of the whole; censuses both create the image and provide the mirror of that image for a nation’s self-reflection. We conclude by outlining the meaning of this period in American history for current and future debates over race and classification.Governmen

“There's No One as Irish as Barack O'Bama”: The Policy and Politics of American Multiracialism

For the first time in American history, the 2000 United States census allowed individuals to choose more than one race. That new policy sets up our exploration of whether and how multiracialism is entering Americans' understanding and practice of race. By analyzing briefly earlier cases of racial construction, we uncover three factors important to understanding if and how intensely a feedback effect for racial classification will be generated. Using this framework, we find that multiracialism has been institutionalized in the federal government, and is moving toward institutionalization in the private sector and other governmental units. In addition, the small proportion of Americans who now define themselves as multiracial is growing absolutely and relatively, and evidence suggests a continued rise. Increasing multiracial identification is made more likely by racial mixture's growing prominence in American society—demographically, culturally, economically, and psychologically. However, the politics side of the feedback loop is complicated by the fact that identification is not identity. Traditional racial or ethnic loyalties and understandings remain strong, including among potential multiracial identifiers. Therefore, if mixed-race identification is to evolve into a multiracial identity, it may not be at the expense of existing group consciousness. Instead, we expect mixed-race identity to be contextual, fluid, and additive, so that it can be layered onto rather than substituted for traditional monoracial commitments. If the multiracial movement successfully challenges the longstanding understanding and practice of “one drop of blood” racial groups, it has the potential to change much of the politics and policy of American race relations.Governmen

Governing by Numbers - Key Indicators and the Politics of Expectations: An Introduction

In this special issue of Historical Social Research, indicators are considered epistemic devices that render the world governable by quantification. While endowed with an aura of objectivity, indicators are not neutral devices. Instead they transform the world they claim to describe. Against the backdrop of a global proliferation of indicators, we argue in favour of research that strategically focuses on the processes that lead to the institutionalisation and systematic use of key indicators in politics compared to cases in which these processes fail. This type of research strategy could enhance the accumulation of systematic knowledge as well as the relevance of social studies of quantification. Furthermore, we propose a heuristic for analysing how indicators are involved in shaping imaginations of the future following the three distinct dimensions of meaning (factual, social, temporal) as introduced by Luhmann. We also review diachronic and synchronic approaches to analysing the genesis and use of indicators in order to derive testable hypotheses about the gap between indicator design and policy use. Finally, we introduce the articles of this special issue

William T. Grant Foundation 2012 Annual Report

This annual report includes"Parting Thoughts," the final essay by outgoing President Robert C. Granger, which offers insights on his tenure and the foundation's work on improving the quality of after-school programs. Vivian Tseng, vice president, program, reviews the work to date on creating and strengthening connections between research and practice in her essay, "Forging Common Ground." And, Deborah McGinn, vice president, finance and administration, discusses the Foundation's stability and ongoing commitment to empowering the research field through sound fiscal planning in "Stability and New Perspectives During Transitions.

From sword to plowshare : using race for discrimination and antidiscrimination in the United States

This article addresses the question of how the United States' policies of antidiscrimination drew on official racial categories that were traditionally used explicitly for discriminatory purposes. After briefly recounting the history of official racial classification practices in the United States and their relation to racist laws and practices, we describe the development of legal prohibitions on racial discrimination, culminating in the civil rights movement of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. This leads to an examination of how statistical data on race are used to implement civil rights law, before outlining contemporary official racial categories. Finally, we assess the debates that have arisen concerning the collection of racial statistics for the purposes of antidiscrimination enforcement. In conclusion, we argue that, more than any autonomous political challenge to the principle of government race classification, what has emerged powerfully in recent years is an awareness of tensions between the needs of the civil rights enforcement machinery and the emerging claim of Americans' “right” to self-define racially as they see fit – in short, between the politics of distribution and the politics of recognition

William T. Grant Foundation: Annual Report 2014

Our new Annual Report features essays on reducing inequality and understanding the use of research evidence, as well as profiles of our grantees and an overview of the work we supported in 2014

Columbia World Projects First Forum Report on Inequality: Unequal Opportunity

This report is the first in a series of inequality reports to be issued by Columbia World Projects (CWP), summarizing expert discussions held on different aspects of economic inequality, in an effort to identify concrete, implementable ideas for how academics and practitioners might partner to better understand and address the challenge. CWP intends to hold a number of convenings on this subject over the next several years, given the complex and critical nature of the problems associated with inequality in the world today . This first expert discussion or “Forum” on the subject was focused on the relationship between inequality and unequal opportunity. There are certain levels of economic inequality that are so severe that they deprive people not only of a path to greater mobility, but also of a range of basic resources – such as housing, education, labor, and health – that can close off opportunities all people should have, regardless of their level of wealth or income. Such unequal access may begin to limit an individual’s opportunities as early as when she is still in the womb and has the capacity to produce negative outcomes that last a lifetime, or even across generations. Thus, on June 19, 2018, more than 30 experts from government, multilateral institutions, nongovernmental and philanthropic organizations, the private sector, the media, and academia, among other fields, came together to discuss concrete ideas for how to make headway against unacceptable, unequal access, how to scale such solutions more broadly, and how to provide a foundation for shifts in government policy where results are proven. The structure of this report follows the sequence of the Forum itself: It begins by summarizing the main insights on the challenge that emerged in the opening discussion (Section III); then it provides an overview of the project ideas that were discussed when the Forum’s participants broke out into thematic working groups(Section IV); and it concludes with the closing plenary, in which participants expressed their views on which ideas were most promising (Section V)

Election outcomes and maximizing turnout: Modelling the effect

An election outcome reflects institutional, behavioural and attitudinal influences. We set out a model showing it is a function of the electoral system, the offices at stake and the number of parties competing as well as the choices of voters and the level of turnout. Therefore, any attempt to estimate the impact of increased turnout on an election outcome must go beyond a comparison of the party preferences of voters and non-voters. This paper presents a model which integrates six different types of influences that collectively determine election outcomes. It demonstrates empirically that maximum turnout falls well short of 100 percent turnout. It also shows the effect of proportional representation and multiple parties in reducing the net benefit that any one party could expect from increased turnout and the inadequacy of using shares of the popular vote to predict increased turnout effects in the United States. It leaves open the normative debate between advocates of civic participation and the libertarian value of being free not to vote. --