A few weeks ago, I launched my new book - Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the US Census. To my sheer delight, many friends have stepped up to host events and join me on stage and I'm now touring the country to spread the word about the census. (Seattle, DC, LA, Bay Area, Chicago, Ann Arbor: I'm headed your way real soon!) But when the team at Data & Society offered to host the first virtual event, I jumped at the chance. And I asked Dan Bouk, my dear friend and fellow D&Ser and census nerd to join me. He offered to make the idea of Jenga Politics understandable through a silly demonstration. I delighted in this, but I also begged a favor: would he consider crafting a silly song for the event?

Y'see... Dan has this knack for breaking into song in meetings. And not just any song. He creates and then sings ridiculously geeky songs that bring a smile to everyone's faces. So, did Dan deliver? OMG did he ever. He crafted a song about the census, Congress, and Jenga politics set to Dolly Parton's 9-to-5. "Tumble down the pieces and bring down the mission... Congress has the power but just does nothing..."

When he broke into song at the event "Protecting Democracy's Data", I was left feeling very very verklempt. To my delight, the video is now online so you can watch it too and feel all the adorbs feels. (If you just want to hear Dan sing, fast forward to 13:17.)

Part of what makes this song especially perfect is that Dan is riffing off of the fact that the House of Representatives is set to 435 members, thanks to a decision from a century ago. He would know. At Data & Society, Dan penned a report about how a 1929 law intended to stop Congresspeople from squabbling ended up cementing an algorithm and, with it, the number 435. His report - "House Arrest: How an Automated Algorithm Constrained Congress for a Century" - is a stark reminder of how laws intended to fix one problem can create ripple effects. It's also a reminder of how, when things like the census become infrastructural, we lose track of what is at stake.

George Washington barely spoke during the Constitutional conventions. He understood his power and influence and thought he should keep his mouth shut. He did speak up at one critical juncture, however. When the Constitutional architects were discussing how Congresspeople should represent 40,000 people, he objected. He argued that the number should be lowered to 30,000 people. His argument was simple. If you want people to trust their representatives, they need to be closer to the people. They need to represent fewer people. Today, members of the House represent roughly 1,000,000 people. Needless to say, trust is broken.

We have collectively forgotten this history. We take the number 435 for granted. As we move into the midterm elections, I can't help but wonder what it would be like if our House was comprised of 11,000 representatives. It's hard to imagine. But how would wrangling that kind of body change how we governed? Of course, there's a big gap between 435 and 11,0000. The amazing team at the Academy of Arts & Sciences argues that we need to restore the "Restore the Founders’ vision of Congress as the 'People's House'" (complete with an amazing explainer video).

Of course, no matter how many reps we select or what algorithm we choose, the way that we allocate political power in the United States starts with the census data. This is what Dan calls Democracy's Data. I wrote Data Are Made, Not Found because I want people to understand all that it takes to make democracy's data. If you haven't snagged a copy yet, I implore you to do so (or to ask your library to make one available for you).

Here's some recent content related to my book that you might enjoy:

• "Protecting Democracy's Data" is a recording of my Data & Society event with Janet Haven and Dan Bouk
• Justin Hendrix and I talk "Jenga Politics" on the Tech Policy Press podcast
• Q&A with me from the team at Bolts

The book tour is shaping up nicely! Below are the next month's worth of events. I hope you can join me for one of them (or check out my website for additional dates). Please help me spread the word!

• October 19, 6-8PM: Seattle, WA with Ron Jarmin
  Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 
  Register to attend here
• October 28, 4PM: Washington, DC with Bob Groves and Amy O’Hara
  Georgetown University Center for Digital Ethics 
  Register to attend here
• October 29, 3:30PM: Washington, DC
  American University
  Register to attend here
• October 30, 2PM: Charlottesville, VA
  University of Virginia 
• November 2, 3:30PM: Los Angeles, CA 
  University of Southern California
  Register to attend here
• November 3, TBD: Irvine, CA 
  University of California at Irvine
• November 4, 12PM: Berkeley, CA (+ Zoom)
  University of California at Berkeley, School of Information
  Register to attend here 
• November 5, 7PM: Mountain View, CA with DJ Patil
  Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA
  Register to attend here
• November 9, 9:15AM: Chicago, IL
  University of Illinois Chicago
  Pre-registration required by Nov 6
• November 9, 4:30PM: Chicago, IL
  University of Chicago, Data Science Institute
  Details here
• November 10, 12:30PM: Evanston, IL
  Northwestern University
  Register to attend here
• November 12, 6:30PM: Ann Arbor, MI
  Ann Arbor District Library
  Event information here

Ten years ago, I started asking questions about the census. Little did I know that I entered a Hotel California-esque vortex. Each question led to another question as I started to discover just how infrastructural the census is. Want to understand American democracy? The census is the key. Curious how to ensure data quality? The census has insights. Invested in responsible AI? The census has lessons. And on and on it went.

Well, today is the official publication day of Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the US Census, which is my attempt to use storytelling to explain the power and beauty of the census. The book is an account of the 2020 census, a love letter to civil servants, and a how-the-sausage-is-made story. Three arguments are woven through the book like red threads:

• Data are made (not found). How they are made really matters. And making data is more than meets the eye.
• "Jenga politics" is configuring our government and world, creating precarities that we must learn to see before it's too late. Everyone loses when the tower falls, even if only one player gets blamed.
• The key to data's legitimacy rests in the social fabric that surrounds the data, moreso even than the quality of the data itself. We must invest in social fabrics to ensure that data is robust, trusted, and able to anchor high-stakes decisions.

While census nerds are bound to smile at some parts of the book (and get mad at me for others), this book isn't just meant for census nerds. It's meant for anyone who cares about democracy, American politics, and government. And it's meant for anyone passionate about data, AI, and our sociotechnical world. All too often, we take the systems that undergird our society for granted. We must learn to see the infrastructures of our society to protect them. And democracy's data is precisely that: data infrastructure.

In the US, we might speak of the importance of the Constitution. The census is at the top: in Article 1, Section 2. Yet many who care about the Constitution or politics know little about how the census works. Our data infrastructure is being politicized and our Census Bureau is being battered. Despite being ordered to oversee a census, Congress has absconded with its responsibilities.

Civil servants work on behalf of the American people. And yet, Democrats have long pushed to outsource government to the private sector, arguing that bureaucrats are too incompetent to do the work. Meanwhile, Republicans have worked to obliterate the administrative state, blaming the so-called "deep state" for spiting them. The public has heard politicians' messages and often believes that civil servants are malfeasant or stupid, incompetent or useless. Meanwhile, Iceland has a Monument to the Unknown Bureaucrat. (Why don't we?)

I want the American people to understand and appreciate the hard work that civil servants do on our behalf to uphold American democracy. If you're reading this, please take a moment to reach out to any civil servant you know and thank them for their service. And if you don't yet know a civil servant, it's time to adopt one. They need our collective support so that they can work on our collective behalf, regardless of who is in power.

But brace yourself. The battles around the census are about to get much more intense. After all, the key decisions connected to the 2030 census are going to unfold over the next two years. The Congress that is elected this November will make all of the critical decisions. They might choose to abscond with their responsibility and simply not act, but that too is a choice. Even right now, there's a Federal Register Notice out there that will radically upend how the 2030 census will operate. Learn more at Hands Off Our Census.

Anyhow, I have a lot more to say. Heck, I edited 350K words down to a reasonable sized book in the hopes that you'd come along for the ride. The book is now here. And it's in English and French, audiobook and ebook. I want it to be easy for anyone to read it. And if purchasing the book isn't viable for you, ask your library for a copy. Libraries are awesome!

I'm also going to run around the US this fall (and France in January!) talking about this work. So come talk with me. Ask questions. Help me celebrate the important work of civil servants. And help us all work to ensure that the census is able to continue serving as democracy's data. Details of the book tour will be kept up-to-date on my website.

Finally... If you've gotten this far, thank you. Getting a book into people's hands isn't easy, especially now. I could use your help. If you can, help spread the word. Let other people who care about democracy and data know about this project. If you read the book, write a review or tell a friend. Word-of-mouth really matters. Thank you.