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IPS55 Hermann H. et al.
question would cause a reduction in participation in the census by minorities.
This would result in a less equitable political representation for some groups
and an unjust disparity in the allocation of federal funds. As a result of
disclosure forced by the lawsuits it was discovered that prior to the Secretary
making his decision the Census Bureau had counselled the Secretary against
adding the citizenship question. The Census Bureau had determined that:

• There was insufficient justification of the need for citizenship data
at the block level,
• Even if one accepted the need for block level data there was a less-
costly and better-quality alternative based on administrative
records, and
• There was evidence that minority response on the decennial census
would be adversely affected.

Two of the lawsuits have concluded, and in each case a Federal judge has
ruled for the plaintiffs and determined that partisan political factors influenced
the Secretary’s decision to add a question on citizenship and have ordered
that the question be removed from the decennial census. The United States
government has appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States and their
decision is expected before the ISI meeting in August. The authors believe that
the Secretary’s decision to add a citizenship question against the advice of
Census Bureau professionals, and his decision to further create a current,
comprehensive statistical reference list on citizenship, risks undermining the
credibility of the Census Bureau and the 2020 Decennial census as well as the
professional staff of the Census Bureau.

5. Conclusion
As this example illustrates, the question remains open as to whether the
statistical agencies in the United States have the necessary degree of
independence from a partisan political process. Although, as mentioned
previously, the concept of independence is not explicitly considered the
Fundamental Principles the international community may want to give some
attention to examining the concept. Certainly, independence by statistical
agencies must have limits. These agencies are funded in whole or mostly by
tax payer funds and so one can expect not only oversight and accountability
but also interest in the operations and procedures of the statistical agencies.
How far should this go? Should the questions on the decennial census be
approved by the legislature? If a statistical agency wants to use sampling to
identify vacant houses which should be deleted should the legislature become
involved? Beyond the decennial census, should changes in the System of
National Accounts that involve accounting for climate changes be subject to

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