Americans Distrust Government Too Much to Answer Census Questions, So Let’s Threaten ‘Em, Says Official

Among the problems the Census Bureau faces in getting Americans
to answer questions, complained an official in a presentation last
week, is that Americans consider nosy questions a threat to their
privacy, especially when posed by a government they distrust. The
solution? Favor the “stick” above “carrot” when mailing out
questionnaires for the American Community Survey. Specifically, the
official recommended emphasizing legal consequences for people who
don’t cough up desired data.

Tasha Boone, Assistant Division Chief for the American Community
Survey,
made her points on October 9 to the National Advisory Committee
on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations, one of several
Census Advisory Committees. That “perceptions of ‘irrelevant’
and ‘unnecessary’ questions raise concerns about privacy” and that
“distrust of government is pervasive” were among several hurdles
she noted to gathering information from the public.

Jst a thought, but a bit of self-awareness might be lacking in
the preference she expressed, among three mail designs for the
American Community Survey, for the existing one that threatens in
bold, capital letters, “YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW.”

That should settle those privacy and trust issues.

But if Tasha Boone is unclear on the concept of unproductive
approaches, she’s correct that “distrust of government is
pervasive.”

When Gallup
asks, “How much trust and confidence do you have in our federal
government in Washington?” when it comes to handling domestic
problems, 59 percent say “not very much” or “none at all”—an
all-time high since the question was first asked in 1972.
Fifty-five percent give the same answer with regard to
international problems.

Likewise, the Pew Research Center for People and the Press finds

near continous decline in public trust of government since the
question was first asked—from 78 percent who trusted “the
government in Washington to do what is right just about always or
most of the time” in 1958 to 19 percent last year.

Why, to quote Tasha Boone, is it that “distrust
of government is pervasive” in modern America? What took the shine
off the governmental apple?

Well, when the Reason-Rupe Public Opinion Survey asked Americans
earlier this year what they thought of their elected officials,
respondents estimated that
70 percent of public officials abuse their power to help their
friends and hurt their enemies.

So of course you’d want to surrender your personal and sensitive
information to them. And threats of legal consequences will
definitely allay concerns over abuse.

Definitely.