The Census and Voter Suppression: The 2020 Immigration Question
The first post in this series on the census covered “prison gerrymandering.” This post covers part of the controversial attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.
Background
From 1820 through to 1950, with an exception for 1840, the census contained a citizenship question. During this time period, the census collected data through in-person interviews. After 1950 the census transition to collecting data through a mailed questionnaire. A short-form questionnaire was mailed to most residences while the remaining residences received a long-form questionnaire. The long-form census questionnaire used in 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 included a question about citizenship.… Read the rest
Trump’s Rhetorical Power
I found a recent paper by Timothy Haverda and Jeffery Halley (H&H) helpful in trying to understand Trump’s nomination and election. More implicitly, it may also help understand Trump’s base of support.
H&H base their paper on Theodor Adorno’s (1903 – 1969) analysis of a 1930s preacher in California, Martin Luther Thomas.* Based on Thomas’ radio addresses, Adorno identified 33 rhetorical devices that characterized Thomas’s speeches. The paper uses three of these devices (1) lone wolf, (2) movement, and (3) exactitude of error to analyze 16 Trump speeches. The speeches cover June 16, 2015 (Trump’s presidential announcement speech) to January 2017 (Trump’s Inaugural Address).… Read the rest
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