Person

Dan Bouk

Bylines

Democracy Is Asking Too Much of Its Data

The latest US Census—used to decide representation in Congress—is flawed. One surprising solution? Enlarge the House of Representatives.

by Dan Bouk via Wired on June 28, 2022
Examining 1950 Census Records Reveals Traces of the Datafied State

What the traces left behind in “antique” US census records can tell us about the life of data and its official uses.

by Dan Bouk via Data & Society on May 4, 2022
partner

The 1950 Census, a Treasure Trove of Data, Was the Last of its Kind

Unveiling the 1950 Census reveals the value of these types of records.

by Dan Bouk via Made By History on April 1, 2022
House Arrest

How an automated algorithm constrained Congress for a century.

by Dan Bouk via Data & Society on April 14, 2021
Standing on the Crater of a Volcano

In 1920, James Weldon Johnson went to Washington, armed with census data, to fight rampant voter suppression across the American South.

by Dan Bouk via Census Stories, USA on July 27, 2020
The Partners of Greenwich Village

Did the census recognize gay couples in 1940?

by Dan Bouk via Census Stories, USA on July 3, 2018
The Muralist and Enumerator

How a census taker and an artist were participants to the grand project of displaying and explaining America to itself.

by Dan Bouk via Census Stories, USA on June 2, 2018

Democracy's Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them

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Two women working for the 1940 census.

'Are You Still Living?'

Who is counted by the census, how, and for what purpose, has changed a lot since 1790.

by Kasia Boddy via London Review of Books on October 19, 2023

Bearing Risks and Being Watched

The individualization of risk that we often think of as part of neoliberalism already existed strongly in the early 20th century.

by Greta R. Krippner via Public Books on February 26, 2019

A promotional postcard for Prudential Insurance Company of America, c. 1958

Our Insurance Dystopia

Private insurance companies have long dominated the provision of social security in the United States, but resistance is growing.

by Caley Horan via Boston Review on June 14, 2021

Joe Biden.

The History of Using Computers to Distribute Benefits Like Biden’s Relief Checks

Technology can break down, but just as often with government tech, glitches are rooted in policy failures.

by Marc Aidinoff via Made By History on March 10, 2021

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