Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs

8/12/2019 Parra Saiani - Knowledge and Participation - Which Democracy - Relmecs

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ReLMeCS, vol. 1,n 2, segundo semestre de 2011. ISSN 1853-7863

ReLMeCS, vol. 1, n2, segundo semestre de 2011., pp. 112-140. ISSN 1853-7863.Red Latinoamericana de Metodologa de las Ciencias Sociales

Recibido: 29/7/2011, Aceptado: 17/11/2011 112

KnowledgeandParticipation:whichDemocracy?PaoloParraSaiani

AbstractAnew impetus for recollecting information seems regaining appeal,maybeheirof thesocial indicators movement. The movement was an heir to the supporters ofquantification in the Social Sciences, as numbers were believed to be objective andscientificperseandinformationwasconsideredtobeacitizensright.The study of society in its various dimensions has stimulated the search for andconstructionofstatistical indicatorsand indices.Thesearchforabetterwayofstudyingtheprogressofsocietieshasoften ledto inappropriateusesof indicatorsandmeasures.GNP, forexample,hasbeencommonlyconsidered tobean indicatorofwellbeing.The

lackof

aconceptual

frame

for

studying

well

being

is

not

the

only

problem,

nor

even

the

greatest.Of similar importance or even greater are themeager statistical skills ofjournalists, policymakers and in general the public. All together, these elementsfacilitatelimitingtheuseofdatainpublicdebate.Inthispaper, Iwillconsider theshiftfrompoliticalarithmeticktomodernsocialreports(par. 1); the success of quantification in the administration of the State (par. 2); themisusesofquantification(par.3);thecurrentnonuseofquantificationandthesearchforcontextual conditions that interfere with the transformation of information intoknowledge(par.4).

Keywords: SOCIAL INDICATORS POLICY DEMOCRACY QUANTIFICATION WELLBEING KNOWLEDGE

DepartmentofPoliticalSciences,UniversityofGenoa,Italy,


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Conocimientoyparticipacin:qudemocracia?PaoloParraSaiani

Resumen

Unnuevompetuporlarecoleccindeinformacinpareceestarganandoterreno,talvezherederodelmovimientodelosindicadoressociales.EstemovimientofueunlegadodequienesapoyabanlacuantificacinenlasCienciasSociales,enlamedidaquelosnmerosse crean objetivos y cientficos per se y la informacin se consideraba un derechociudadano.El estudio de la sociedad en susmltiples dimensiones ha estimulado la bsqueda yconstruccindeindicadoresendicesestadsticos.Sinembargo,elintersporcontarconmejores formas de estudiar el progreso social ha conducido,muchas veces, a un usoinadecuado de indicadores y medidas. El PBI, por ejemplo, ha sido frecuentemente

tomadocomo

un

indicador

de

bienestar.

Pero

la

carencia

de

un

marco

conceptual

para

el

estudio del bienestar no es el nico problema, ni siquiera el ms importante. Unasignificacin similar o aun mayor la tiene la escasa competencia estadstica deperiodistas, hacedoresde polticas pblicas yen general la ciudadana. En conjunto,estoselementoscoadyuvanalimitarelusodelosdatoseneldebatepblico.Enesteartculoabordoelcambiodesdelaaritmticapolticahacialosmodernosreportessociales(par.1);elxitode lacuantificacinen laadministracindelEstado(par.2); losusosinadecuadosdelacuantificacin(par.3);laactualnoutilizacindelacuantificacinyla bsqueda de condiciones contextuales que interfieren en la transformacin de lainformacinenconocimiento(par.4).

Palabrasclave: INDICADORES SOCIALES POLITICA DEMOCRACIA CUANTIFICACION BIENESTAR CONOCIMIENTO.

DepartmentofPoliticalSciences,UniversityofGenoa,Italy,


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KnowledgeandParticipation:whichDemocracy?Introduction

Democracy,information,

knowledge,

numbers,

numeracy.

In

this

paper

Iwill

show

the connections (or their lack) between them and trace the road from politicalarithmetictomodernsocialreports,illustratingthefactorsthatcontributedtointroducequantification in thepublicdiscourse.However,aswillbeshown in the lastsection,themerepossibilitytoknowthestateofthenationisnotthesameastousethatknowledge.

1. ThehiddeninformationTheactivityofgatheringinformationonsocialsubjectshasanoldstory.Inventories

withfiscal

and

administrative

purposes

were

acommon

practice

in

the

ancient

Egypt

as

in

theRomanEmpire. In1086appears inEnglandpromotedbyWilliam theConquerorthe Domesday Book, very similar to a modern census. In 1288 Bonvesin da la Rivapublished a work dedicated to the city ofMilan, giving a detailed description of thetopography,demography,andarchitectureofMilananditsenvirons:averydifferentandinnovativeapproachfromtheusualoneofthatperiod.AnotherexampleisgivenbyJohnGraunt,whoin1622publishedNaturalandPoliticalObservationsMadeupontheLondonBills of Mortality1: one of the pioneering works in the history of statistics anddemography, Graunts book laid the foundation for a quantitative study of society,providingnumbers for the totalpopulationof London, themortality rates fordifferentdiseases (including plague), the ratio between the sexes, and measures of longevity

(Rusnock2005:

66

67).

In

1696

Gregory

King

published

the

Scheme

of

the

Income

and

ExpenseoftheSeveralFamiliesofEnglandCalculatedfortheYear1688,inLaslettswordstheearliestreckoningofagrossnationalproduct, the firstattemptatdistributing that

1SeeHull(1896;1899),Cullen(1975)andPiovani(2006,17),forthedebateontheauthorshipoftheLondonBills.


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productbetween classes,householdsand individuals, in fact thepointoforiginationoftheveryconceptofanationalincome,evenofthewholetendencytolookatsocietiesintheir entirety, taking every single member into account (1973: 3). Nevertheless,sovereignsdidnothavethepossibilitytorelyonreliable information:dependingonthesources,FrenchpopulationinXIVandXVcenturywasestimatedbetween112millionand120billionpeople.AsstatedbyReyni,leroiquisesaitroinesaitpasdequiilestroi2(1992,43).

The development of communication and transport systems, the diffusion ofaccountingtechniquesandtheriseofmercantilecapitalism,allthesefactorsrequiredthesystematic recollection of information on population, disposable resources andcommercialflows(Lazarsfeld1961;Braudel1972:369;Pinkney1986:5051;Bruschi1999:234;Kiser&Kane2001:202;205).Butonly abureaucraticorganization inWeberiantermswouldhavepermittedthegatheringofsuchinformationinapermanentway.AsWeberpointedout,bureaucraticadministrationbuilthisrationaldominiononknowledge(1922a/1995,I,ch.3).FollowingWeber(1922/1995, II:48),Habermas(1962)consideredcalculability and impersonality in the administration of the State as consequences ofcapitalism needs. But the relation between power and knowledge has been deeply

analyzedby

the

Frankfurt

School

and

by

Michel

Foucault.

The

former

emphasized

that

largeaccumulationoffactsand linksbetweenthemwasasciencetask inordertoassistindustriesandgovernment(Horkheimer&Adorno1966:259;Horkheimer&Adorno1956:142). The latter saw the activity of production of information on life conditions intobiopolitics, an expression bywhich he defined the institutional basis of the Europeanpowersystem,borninthemidofXVIII.Inhiswritings,theconceptofpopulationassumesa focal position: power can be exercised on population, and not on subjects; for thatreason,populationneededtobestudiedinordertobeusedintheproductionofwealth,goodsorotherindividuals.

Ladcouvertede lapopulationest,enmme tempsque ladcouvertede lindividuetdu

corpsdressable,

lautre

grand

noyau

technologique

autour

duquel

les

procds

politiques

de

lOccident se sont transforms. On a invent ce momentl ce que jappellerai, paropposition lanatomopolitique quejaimentionn linstant, la biopolitique. Cest cemomentquenousvoyonsapparatredesproblmescommeceuxdelhabitat,desconditionsdeviedansuneville,de lhyginepublique,de lamodificationdu rapportentrenatalitet

2Amplius,seeHecth(1977,I:3435)andReyni(1992:45).


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mortalit.Cest cemomentquestapparu leproblmede savoir commentnouspouvonsamenerlesgensfaireplusdenfants,ouentoutcascommentnouspouvonsrglerlefluxdela population, comment nous pouvons rgler galement le taux de croissance dunepopulation, lesmigrations. Et, partir de l, toute une srie de techniques dobservation,parmi lesquelles la statistique, videmment, mais aussi tous les grands organismesadministratifs,conomiquesetpolitiques,sontchargsdecettergulationdelapopulation.Ilyaeudeuxgrandesrvolutionsdanslatechnologiedupouvoir:ladcouvertedeladisciplineet la dcouverte de la rgulation, le perfectionnement dune anatomopolitique et le

perfectionnementdune

bio

politique

(Foucault,

200l:

l012

1013).

Finally, Foucault directly connected knowledge and power, going back toWilliamPetty:

Enprtantaumotunsensdiffrentdeceluique luidonnaientauXVIIesiclePettyetsescontemporains,onpourrait rverduneanatomiepolitique.Cene seraitpas ltudeduntatpriscommeuncorps(avecseslments,sesressourcesetsesforces)maisceneseraitpasnonplus ltudeducorpsetdesesentourspriscommeunpetittat.Onytraiteraitducorps politique comme ensemble des lmentsmatriels et des techniques qui serventdarmes,derelais,devoiesdecommunicationetdepointsdappuiauxrelationsdepouvoiretdesavoirqui investissent lescorpshumainset lesassujettissentenen faisantdesobjetsde

savoir(Foucault

1975:

33).

Foucaultsapproachwasthendrawnonbystressingthecoercivepowerofnumberson individualsinordertoconvertthem intoobjectsabletobemanipulated(Cohn1987:224; Anderson 1991: 163; Appadurai 1996). On the other hand, such a position wasofferedbyPettyhimself:

And finallywhenwee have a cleere view of all persons and things,with their powers&familyes,wee shallbee able toMethodize and regulate them to thebestadvantageof thepubliqandofperticularpersons(1661/1927,I,IV,25:90).

And

where

power

is

not

exercised

with

ostentation,

it

takes

action

insidiously,

as

censuscanbeaninstrumentofsocialcontrolandinstitutionalizationofdifferences.3

3Manyauthorsconsiderstatisticsasasocialconstruction(KitsuseandCicourel1963;Hacking1990;Rose1990;Poovey1998),bywhichitispossibletocreateanoppressivelanguage,institutionalizingnormalityandabnormality.Butthereisnounanimityinconsideringnormalizationandindividualcontrolasanexpectableresultofquantification.Onthecontrary,thesuccessofnumbersentailsfreedomfortheindividual:Sherman(2001)statethatquantificationhasgivebacktoindividualhisownresponsibility,showinghimashispoverty


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The systematic activity of gathering informationmodified the same reality itwassupposedtostudy(Desrosires1989:232ff.).Ontheotherhand, itfavouredinnovativeapproaches on the theoryside, by modifying the unit of analysis. Studies by Booth,Rowntree,Bowleyetc.,allcontributetoovercometheideologicalviewofpovertyseenasabreach,apathology,tobeattributedonlytotheindividual.Thisiswelldemonstratedin1848, when an outbreak of cholera focused attention on Britains city slums; theEconomistopposedthepassageofaPublicHealthBilldeclaring:

Suffering and evil areNatures admonitions; they cannot be got rid of; and the impatientattemptsofbenevolence tobanish them from theworldby legislation,beforebenevolencehaslearnttheirobjectandtheirend,havealwaysbeenmoreproductiveofevilthangood(inAbrams1951:25).

Similarly, the diffusionof expressions like rateof criminality (around 1830) andunemploymentrate(intheearly1900s)underlinedthecollectiveresponsibilityattheexpenseoftheunluckyorreprehensible individualperson (Himmelfarb1991:41;Porter1995:37). In thesameway,suicide isnomoreattributed toeachsingle individual,andtheir regularities became properties related to society on the whole, as in the

Durkheimianproduction.

2. TheStateanditsmirrorThe expression Political Arithmetick, coined by William Petty, made explicit the

conjunction between two spheres until then thought as separated: on the one hand,reasonofState,theprivilegeofaristocraticelite;ontheotherhand,arithmetic,avulgardisciplinecauseher tieswith trade.Petty thought that theuseofnumberswouldallow

istheresultofaspectsthathemaycontrol.Porter(1995;2005)andHess(2000;2005)drawtheattentiontothe introduction of the thermometer in order to take directly our own temperature,without having tocontactan intermediary (thedoctorandhisopinion.Nodoubtthequantificationofbodytemperature isonly one example of a new social technology. But the standardizations that prepared the way forquantification in the hospital and in daily life did not simply serve to document,measure, control andregulate the individual. They also somehow allowed the individual to regulate and control this socialtechnology(Hess2005:122).


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the impact of personal and subjective opinion in State strengths determination to beneutralized:

TheMethodItaketodothis,isnotyetveryusual;forinsteadofusingonlycomparativeandsuperlativeWords,and intellectualArguments,Ihavetakenthecourse(asaSpecimenofthePoliticalArithmetick Ihave longaimedat)toexpressmyself intermsofNumber,Weight,orMeasure; touseonlyArgumentsofSense,andtoconsideronlysuchCauses,ashavevisibleFoundations in Nature; leaving those that depend upon the mutable Minds, Opinions,

Appetitesand

Passions

of

particular

Men,

to

the

Consideration

of

others

(Petty

1690:

vi

vii;

italicintheoriginal).

Torgersonpointedthatthedreamofputtinganendtothestrifeandconfusionofhuman society in favor of an orderly administration of things based upon objectiveknowledgewasprevalentintheEnlightenmentofthe18thcenturyandwasreassertedwith the advent of positivism in the 19th century (1986: 34). And in particular,quantification of social phenomena should have guarantee an objective knowledge;statistics is then seenan indispensable science fora liberalstate.As stated in the1860statuteoftheStatisticalSocietyofParisstatisticsisnothingelsethantheknowledgeof

the

science

of

facts

[]

It

ought

to

provide

the

basis

upon

which

society

is

governed

(in

Porter1995:80).The search for objectivity was explicitly stated in the program of the Statistical

Society:

TheStatisticalSocietywillconsiderittobethefirstandmostessentialruleofitsconducttoexcludeallopinionsfrom itstransactionsandpublicationstoconfineitsattentionrigorouslyto factsandas farasmaybe foundpossible, to factswhichcanbe statednumericallyandarrangedintables(BritishAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience1833:492).

Thusobjectivitysupposed tobean intrinsicpropertyofnumberswouldhaveallowedpoliticstodecideinarationalwayoneconomicandsocialtopics;sorationalthat

iffacts

would

be

known,

disagreement

would

cease.

This

statement,

clearly

an

heritage

of the truegenuinepositivism,willbeaswewill see in the followingparagraphsapointofviewcommonalsowiththelatersocialindicatormovementoftheSixties.

It should be evident that all those initiatives were led by economic, fiscal andpoliticalreasons;thus itwasquiteobviousthatallthosestatisticshadtobekeptsecret.AswecanreadintheDiscourshistoriqueMonseigneurleDauphinsurleGouvernement


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methodaspossible;thatthesmallernumberoftheirsubjectsmaybeabletoestimatetheirenormousimpositionsandexactions.ButRepublicanmoneyoughttobesimple,andadaptedtothemeanestcapacity(Root1796;inCohen2003:11).

So, Cohen synthesizes, bad governments prefer complicated money andinnumerate citizenswho cannot figure out how a tyrant can be fleecing them,whilerepublicangovernmentsshouldmakeitpossibleforpeopleofthemeanestcapacityto

beable

to

decode

the

countrys

budget

and

tax

policy

(Cohen

2003:

11).

The initiatives for thebettermentofconditionsofpoorestpeoplebackedby tradeunions, nonprofit organizations and religious groups in the late 1800s and at thebeginningsof1900sgaveastrongimpulsetotheuseofnumbersinthestudyofsociety,especiallyintheUnitedStates4(Cohen1982;Cobb&Rixford1998;Tobin1995:538).Onlyin the winter of 1929, the activity of gathering information on social topics wasinstitutionalized. Herbert Hoover who commissioned the report Recent EconomicChanges in the United States when in charge as Secretary of Commerce, aiming atamelioratingnational statisticsoncommerceasPresidentof theUnitedStatessetupthe Research Committee on Social Trends to investigate the overall condition of the

nation,

in

particular

the

social

conditions

of

life

in

the

American

society:

healthcare,

housing,welfare services (Hoover 1952: 312). Although the report issued in 1933wasreceived by contrasting views, it was the first official document devoted to socialmeasurement, covering numerous social conditions such as demographics, health, andeducation (Cobb&Rixford1998:8).But this impetus in the socialaccountingdidnotsucceed in surviving the incipient economic and financial crisis, all the efforts beingconcentrated inameliorating theeconometric tools.Shackle (1967)described theyearsfrom1936to1939astheroaringyearsforeconomics:inthoseyearswecanciteseminalworksbyKeynes(1936),Leontief(1936),Kuznets(1937)andTinbergen(1939).

4Around

1910,

the

Russell

Sage

Foundation

initiated

the

development

of

what

are

now

called

community

indicatorsusingprocessesthatareremarkably like theones thathavebeen reestablished in the1990s.SageprovidedagranttotheCharityOrganizationSociety (ofNewYork)tosurvey industrialconditions inPittsburgh (Smith 1991: 4041). After the studywas released in 1914, the Russell Sage Foundationwasbesiegedwithrequeststofundsimilarstudiesinothercities.Sinceitdidnothavethefundstodothat,thefoundationprovided technicaladvice instead.Partlyasa resultof this initiative,over two thousand localsurveyswere taken on education, recreation, public health, crime, and general social conditions (Cobb1998:67).


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It was only in the mid1960s that the economists influence on the US publicadministrationstartedtoseeitsfirsttroubles.Thetraditionalwayofreportingthewelfareof the nationwere harshly criticized because based only upon economic parameters,traditionally,GDPandGNP.AsinthefamouswordsbyRobertKennedy:

Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence andcommunityvalues in themereaccumulationofmaterialthings.OurGrossNationalProduct,

now,

is

over

$800

billion

dollars

a

year,

but

that

Gross

National

Product

if

we

judge

the

United States of America by that that Gross National Product counts air pollution andcigaretteadvertising,andambulancestoclearourhighwaysofcarnage.Itcountsspeciallocksforourdoorsand thejails for thepeoplewhobreak them. It counts thedestructionof theredwoodand the lossofournaturalwonder inchaotic sprawl. Itcountsnapalmandcountsnuclearwarheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It countsWhitman'srifleandSpeck'sknife,andthetelevisionprogramswhichglorifyviolenceinordertoselltoystoourchildren.Yetthegrossnationalproductdoesnotallowforthehealthofourchildren,thequalityoftheireducationorthejoyoftheirplay.Itdoesnotincludethebeautyofour poetry or the strength of ourmarriages, the intelligence of our public debate or theintegrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither ourwisdomnorourlearning,neitherourcompassionnorourdevotiontoourcountry,itmeasureseverything in short, except thatwhichmakes lifeworthwhile.And it can tellus everything

aboutAmerica

except

why

we

are

proud

that

we

are

Americans

(1968).

ThosewordsechoedtheearlieroneswrittenbyBliss:

The land istheendowmentoftheCreatorand its increase invalueddoesnotrepresentanincreaseofwealthonthecontrary,with forestandminesand the fertilityof thesoil toalargeextentexhausted,thereisadecreaseinsteadofanincreaseofwealthofthischaracter.Couldthefewbeenabledtopreempttheairastheyhavethelandandcompelustopayfortheprivilegeofbreathingit,weshouldhaveanincreaseofpropertyvalues(1897:99).

Notwithstandingall the critics, thework conductedby theeconomic counselorofthegovernmentandresearchinstitutesasBrookingsbecameamodelforallwhowantedto apply social science to government action and searched for analogous criteria forprojecting social policies (Carley 1981: 17; Land 1983: 3). In this way, the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Sciences started to study funded by Nasa the indirectconsequencesofspatialprogramsonUSsociety;themaindifficulty,saidBauer,BidermanandGross,was in the lackofdata.The reportwas seenbyGross asa symptomof a


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widespreadrebellionagainstwhathasbeencalledtheeconomicphilistinismoftheUSgovernmentspresentstatisticalestablishment(1966:ix).

Anewimpetusmadeavailablealargenumberofnationalsocialreports5,nottosaythelargeamountofinformationnowadourdispositionthankstoorganizationsasUndp,Ocse, etc. And this abundance of information is more and more important (even ifsometimes we should talk of information overload) if we agree that the citizens ofdemocratic governments [] need good information, to assess their leaders politicaldecisionsandjudgethemonelectionday.[]itisincreasinglythecasethatcandidaciesinthemoderneracanbewonor lostbasedontheunemploymentrate,thecrimerate,orthe Dow Jones index. Ourmultitudes of numerical indicators summarize the complexeconomic, political, and social health of the country, and citizens need to be able todecodeanddecipherthismoderndaypoliticalarithmetic(Cohen2003:7).

So,itisalegitimatepositionpretendingtomovebeyondthenaiveenthusiasmforpolitical arithmetick characteristic of the early nineteenth century, which valuednumbers for their seemingly objective, neutral, and therefore authoritative status(Cohen2003:8),andtodealwithtwoimportantissues:

1)the symbolic and constructedusesofpoliticalnumbers that canboth convey andhideimportantinformation,and2)theabsenceofadequateandequallydistributedinformationamongcitizens.

5Buttheuseofquantificationofsocialphenomenaforpurposesofsocialengineeringwasnotsharedbyall.In 1968, Russell Sage Foundation published Indicators of Social Change, edited by WilbertMoore andEleanor Bernert Sheldon: in this oeuvre, the authors contrasted not only using social indicators in thedecisionmakingprocess,buteventhepublicationofanannualsocialreport.Thepriorityhadtobegiventothe research and the betterment of the process of gathering information (Sheldon et al. 1983: 79).

Accordingly,problems

and

theoretic

foundations

were

clearer

in

the

social

domain

than

in

the

economic

one(Sheldon&Freeman1970).Itis importantthat itberecognized,particularlybythepolicymaker,thatthe social indicator movement, neither in conceptualization nor in state of the art, is ready to dealeffectivelywith the problems [] that surround policy development and implementation (Sheldon andFreeman1970:110).Ifitcanberecognizedthatsociologyfailednotonlyinthe1970stoconvergeinaunique one paradigmatic view of social phenomena, the preference accorded to economicsmay be theresultofaprocessof idealization,and simultaneouslyofunderestimationof thecomplexityofeconomicissues.


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3. ThemisusesofquantificationAsmanyofhispredecessors,Ogburnthoughtthatsocialreportsshouldbebasedon

facts, not opinions, and that data and trends had to be presented without anyinterpretation. InOgburns view, the socialworld can be known only by facts, from

enumeration

and

measurement

of

social

phenomena.

And

if

the

study

of

society

and

socialtrendsisbasedonfactsregistration,thenstatisticsistheonlyreliablediscipline;forthat reason, he said, all sociologists will be statisticians (Ogburn 1930: 46). Hisapproachdominatedtheworkonthefollowingsocialindicatorsresearch.

RecentSocialTrendsinspiredbyOgburnwaswellreviewed,exceptbySorokin,whocriticizedthefactthatAnythingthatcannotbemeasured istobebannedor,atbest,barely toleratedsomewhereat theoutskirtsof theobjectiveandscientificstudy[]theyhavegivenusanirrelevantsetoffigures(Sorokin1933:196;197).Andaimingatbettergroundinghiscritic,Sorokinreportedsomeextractsfromthereport,abovethemthefollowingone:

Onemonth

after

issue,

180,000

copies

of

agovernment

pamphlet

on

furniture,

its

selection

anduse,weredistributed(1931)[]SixhundredthousandobjectsarelentannuallybytheSt.Louis Educational Museum alone [] The sale of Navajo blankets is reported as above$1,500,000in1930[]ThetownofOttawa,Kansas,withahighschoolpopulationof431hasanorchestraof90thathasfourtimeswonthestatecontest(cit.inSorokin1933,197).

Hisconclusion,drasticandat the same timecaustic:Was thereanyneedof thispainstaking elaboration of the obvious? (Sorokin 1933: 200). Sorokins criticsmay bevalid for a lot of todays works: infatuation for numbers obscured the importance ofconceptual refinement, pushing into the background semantic analysis, i.e. intensionalcharacteristicsofconcepts.Thisisabroadenproblem,thatgoesbeyondthissinglereport.

The

quest

for

precision

is

often

incongruent:

incongruent

compared

to

the

level

affordable

for the techniquesused indataproductionand to thenatureof thepropertiesstudied.Presentingdecimalsatallcostsoften isusedtohidethelackofsubstanceofourtables,gaininganeasycredibility(Marradi1993:53;Horn1993,18).This isacommonpractice,to such a degree that has several names:fallacy of the misplacedprecision,fallacy ofmisplacedconcreteness(Horn1993:18),speciousaccuracy(Morgenstern1950:3).


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Changes inconsumerstotalspendingpowerarereported,andtakenseriously,downtothelast billion (i.e., about onehalf percent!), price indexes forwholesale prices are shown toseconddecimals,whentherehavebeensomanycomputingstepsthattheroundingofferrorsalonemayobliteratesuchadegreeofprecision.Unemployment figuresofseveralmillionsaregiven down to the last 1,000s (i.e., onetenth of one percent accuracy!), when even the100,000sorthemillionsareindoubt(Morgenstern1950,6).Thestudyofpolitics,likethestudyofeconomics,isusuallyaonedigitscienceatbest;infact,wedowelltogetthesign rightmore thanhalfthetime.Howthencananyonebeaskedto

takethe

third,

fourth,

and

fifth

significant

digits

seriously?

Why

do

professional

journals

publishthatcomputationaldebris?(Tufte1977:312).

InthesamewayEberstadtcommentedFAOsstatistics:

TheFAOreports,forexample,thatChad'spercapitafoodsupplyroseexactlysixcaloriesperday (that is, 0.3 percent) between 1977 and 1980, and that per capita food supplies inAfghanistanandChaddifferedbyexactlysevencaloriesperday(or0.4percent) in1980.Fortheperiods inquestion,however, it isthoughtthatupwardof90percentofthepopulaceofbothcountrieswasprobablyruralandilliterate,andasmuchashalfoftheproductionofgoodsandservicesinbothcountriesmayhaveoccurredinthenonmonetizedeconomy.(Eventheseestimates are only speculation, since a comprehensive economic survey has never been

attemptedin

either

nation;

at

the

time

of

these

FAO

estimates,

in

fact,

neither

country

had

everpublishedacensusofitspopulation)(1995:171).

So,thewordsbyThomasandThomasseemtohavebeenwrittentoday:insearchingthereasonsofthedistrustofstatistics,theyfoundtheunwisemanipulationsofdatathatareoftenmade,[] theexpression intermsofgreatprecisionofresultsobtainedwhencomplicated formulae are applied to very inexact data, and [] the totally erroneousassumptiononthepartofmanystatisticiansthatthestatisticalresultstellallthatcanbetoldabout the subject (1928:5701).Asdistrustof statistics isanold issue, thereareplentyofothercitationswhichwemaycite,butoneofthemostfamousissurelytheonefromDurkheim:

Onsait,malheureusement,quelesconstatationsofficiellessonttropsouventdfectueuses,alors mme qu'elles portent sur des faits matriels et ostensibles que tout observateurconsciencieuxpeutsaisiretquinelaissentaucuneplacelapprciation(1897/1990,144).


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4. KnowledgeasademocraticissueThe second issue (the absence of adequate and equally distributed information

among citizens) can be synthesised by only one question: When information is wellconstructed,anditisatourdisposition,whocares?AspointedoutbyCurtin(2007:1),itisaninternationalcustombeingsurprisedthatsomesurveyfindsthatahighproportionof

people

could

not

name

their

representative

in

the

legislature

(Delli

Carpini

&

Keeter

1996),nordid theyhaveaccurateknowledgeaboutcommonmedicalconditions (Lucas1987),correctlyknowaboutplanetaryorbits(Lucas1988),thecurrentrateofinflationorunemployment (Blendon et al. 1997; Blinder & Krueger 2004; Curtin 2007), or theConsumerPriceIndex(CPI)andtherateofgrowthintheGrossDomesticProduct(Curtin2007;Giovannini2008a)6.

Curtinindicatethatonlyonethirdofall[US]respondentsreportedthattheyknewthe most recently published official rate of unemployment, oneinfive reportedknowledgeof themost recentlypublished rateof change in theConsumerPrice Index,and about oneinsix knew themost recently announced official rate of growth in theGross National Product. What was an even more dismal assessment of the publics

knowledgeof

these

official

statistics

was

that

one

fifth

of

all

respondents

reported

that

theyhadneverheardof theofficial rateofunemploymentpublishedby theBureauofLaborStatistics,onethirdreportedthattheyhadneverheardoftheofficialchangeintheConsumerPrice Index,and fourinten reported that theyhadneverheardof theGrossDomesticProductreportedbytheBureauofEconomicAnalysis(2007:7)7.

Similar results have been found in Europe; the survey on citizens knowledge ofeconomic indicators conducted in the spring of 2007 by Eurobarometer8 showed that

6FurtherexamplesinLusardiandMitchell(2009);Lusardi,MitchellandCurto(2009and2010);seealsothereportspublishedbyThePEWResearchCenter(www.peoplepress.org).

7To

be

sure,

even

fewer

people

reported

that

they

knew

the

official

rates

when

the

opt

out

option

was

giventotherespondent.Abouthalfasmanyrespondentsprovidedarateanswerwhentheoptoutoptionwasgivenfortheunemploymentrate(26%versus43%),theConsumerPriceIndex(13%versus27%)andfortheGrossDomestic Product (9% versus 23%). The data clearly indicate that peoplewere quick to takeadvantageofthequestionskippingoption(Curtin2007:7).8BetweenApril10thandMay15th,aspartof theEurobarometerwave67.2. Itcovers30countriesandterritories:The27EUMemberStates, its twocandidate statesCroatiaandTurkeyaswellas theTurkishCypriotCommunity(Eurobarometer2008:4).


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largeproportionsofcitizensthroughoutEuropeclaimnottoknowtheircountrysgrowthrate, inflation rateorunemployment rate9.Even in those countrieswherepeopleweregenerally most inclined to give estimations for these figures (i.e. Denmark, theNetherlands, Slovakia and Germany),more than a third of respondents replied dontknow (Eurobarometer 2008: 42). Figure 1 shows themain results of Eurobarometerssurvey,reportingthepercentagesfor23correctanswers,1correctanswerand0correctanswer(thislastpercentageincludingthedontknowoption).

Fig.1.Knowledgeofthenationalgrowthrate,inflationrateandunemploymentrate.Percentageofanswersnotdifferingmorethan+/ 20%fromofficial

growth,inflationandunemploymentrates

Source:Eurobarometer(2008:27).

9 In the EU as a whole 53% of citizens admitted not to know their countrys economic growth rate(Eurobarometer 2008: 13) and their countrys inflation rate (ivi: 18); 48% say they do not know theunemploymentrateintheircountry(ivi:23).


16/29




Furthermore,theproportionofcitizenswhotrustofficialstatistics(46%)issimilartotheproportionclaimingthattheydonottrustofficialstatistics(Eurobarometer2008:37).Trust in official statistics reaches its highest levels in theNetherlands (77%), Denmark(73%)andFinland(69%)whiletheleasttrustisfoundinFrance(with60%whotendnottotrust),theUnitedKingdom(58%)andHungary(55%).

On the other side of the ocean again, we can mention the AmericasBarometersurveys by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), in which 40,990respondentsfromLatinAmericaandtheCaribbeanreceivedquestionsamongothersas What is the name of the current president of the US?, How many[provinces/departments/ states] does [country] have?, and How long is the[Presidential/PrimeMinisterial] termofoffice in [country]?10. Incorrect and doesnotknow responses were coded as 0, and correct responses were coded as 1, and anadditiveindexfrom0to3wascreated11(Fig.2).Eveniftheoperazionalizationofpoliticalknowledge isquitesimplest12,twospecificvariablesstoodoutasthemost informative:education and access to media at home had the strongest effects on political

knowledge(Batista

Pereira

2011:

5,

6).

10TheLAPOPdatacanbeaccessedatwww.lapopsurveys.org

11The rateofDoesnotknowresponses in these24countrieswasrespectively19.5%,25.2%and8.9%,

althoughtheLAPOPquestionwordingdidnotofferexplicitDoesnotknowoptions(DiazDominguez2011:1).12

Converses answer to the conventional complaint aboutmeasures of political information based on

knowledgeof

minor

facts

is

well

known:

although

Converse

took

as

example

the

question

on

the

length

of

termsofUS senators,hewrote thatthis isa tiresome canard. Informationmeasuresmustbe carefullyconstructedandmultiitem,butitdoesnottakemuchimaginationtorealizethatdifferencesinknowledgeofseveralsuchminor factsarediagnosticofmoreprofounddifferences in theamountandaccuracyofcontextualinformationvotersbringtotheirjudgmentsforextendedproofs(2000:333).Anyway,maybeamore exhaustive batterywould have been better. The same Converse recommended that informationmeasuresmustbecarefullyconstructedandmultiitem(ibidem),asstatedbytheold lazarsfeldian lessononconceptsandindicators.


17/29




Fig.2.PoliticalknowledgeinLatinAmericaandtheCaribbean,2010.Meannumberofcorrectanswers(min=0,max=3)

Source:2010

AmericasBarometer

by

LAPOP,

cit.

in

Daz

Domnguez

(2011:

1).

Inasimilarway13,Boidiconcludes, talkingaboutMexico, thatthosewhoalreadyhave other resources (education,wealth) are thosewith the higher levels of politicalknowledge.Political knowledge isanadditional resource that thosewhohave receivedmorebenefits from the system canput towork inorder tobemore favored,and thatthosewhoneedmorethesystemtoworkforthemlack(2007:29).WecansaywithDelliCarpini and Keeter that individual, systemic, and contextual factors have a reciprocalrelation: they feed one another, and this mutual influence, by promoting a spiral ofknowledge, is one reason there are great disparities in knowledge levels betweenindividuals (1996: 19). Its not a surprise to see that for US citizens they foundsignificant,oftendramaticgroupdifferencesinlevelsofpoliticalknowledge,withgroups

13 The 2004Mexico LAPOP survey asked four questionswith the aim to tap political sophistication. The

questionsweredesignedto inquireon factualpoliticalknowledge. Interviewerswereaskedwhethertheyknewthenameof theUSpresident,howmanystates thereare inMexico, the lengthofthepresidentialterminMexicoandthenameoftheBrazilianpresident.Onthissurvey,seeBoidi(2007).


18/29




that aremost disadvantaged in the social and economic spheres (women,blacks, lowincomecitizens,andyoungercitizens)alsotheleastinformed,andthusleastequippedtousethepoliticalsystemtoredresstheirgrievances(ibidem,18;seealsoCh.4).

Those research findings are important for understanding the function of nationalstatistics in implementingdemocraticaccountability.Voterscanvoteresponsiblyonlyiftheyhave reasonably accurate information aboutnational economicperformance.Thisinformation, of course, is often made accessible when it is summarized as statisticaltrends.[]Here,then,isacontributionofpublicstatisticstotheworkingsofdemocracy(Prewitt1986: 115).Again in thewordsby Prewitt, ademocratic society ispreservedwhenthepublichasreliablewaysofknowingwhetherpoliciesarehavingtheannouncedor promised effect []Numbers, a part of this publicly available political intelligence,consequently contribute to the accountability required of a democracy (1986: 119).SteenwarnsthataninnumeratecitizentodayisasvulnerableastheilliteratepeasantofGutenbergstime(1997:xv).

Buthowtoconcealthosetheoreticalfindingswithcrudereality,where itbecomesdifficult todo rathersimplearithmeticoperations (OECD2006)?Forexample, theAdultLiteracy and Life Skills Survey results confirm the IALS findings thatmany adults have

difficultiescoping

with

literacy14

and

numeracy15

related

demands

that

are

common

in

14 Literacy is referred tothe ability tounderstand andemployprinted information indaily activities, at

home, at work and in the community to achieve ones goals, and to develop ones knowledge andpotential;therearethreedomainsofliteracyskills:a)proseliteracytheknowledgeandskillsneededtounderstand and use information from texts including editorials, news stories, brochures and instructionmanuals;b)Documentliteracytheknowledgeandskillsrequiredtolocateanduseinformationcontainedin various formats, includingjob applications, payroll forms, transportation schedules,maps, tables andcharts; c)Quantitative literacy the knowledgeand skills required toapplyarithmeticoperations,eitheraloneorsequentially,tonumbersembeddedinprintedmaterials,suchasbalancingachequebook,figuringoutatip,completinganorderformordeterminingtheamountofinterestonaloanfromanadvertisement

(Oecd1995:

14).

15AsstatedbyODonoghue(2002:47),theresearchliteraturecontainsnouniversallyaccepteddefinition

ofnumeracy.Cockcroft(1982)identifiesthesourceoftheconceptandthetermnumeracyastheCrowtherReport (1959), which defined numeracy as the mirror image of literacy (par. 398) We would wishnumerateto implythepossessionoftwoattributes.The firstof these isan athomenesswithnumbersand an ability tomake use ofmathematical skillswhich enable an individual to copewith the practicalmathematical demands of his everyday life. The second is ability to have some appreciation andunderstandingof informationwhich ispresented inmathematical terms, for instance ingraphs,chartsor


19/29




modern lifeandwork.Furthermore,dependingon the country,betweenonethirdandover twothirdsofadultpopulationsdonotattain the level consideredbyexpertsasasuitable minimum level for coping with the increasing demands of the emergingknowledgesocietyandinformationeconomy(StatisticsCanada&OECD2005:31).

So,yes,numbersmaycontributetotheaccountabilityrequiredforademocracy,butwehavetodiscoverhow.Socialsciencescanhelpinthattasksearchingforthebestwayofstatisticscommunication.Themainquestionis,aspointedoutintheEurobarometersreport, How can data regarding social and economic progress [] be more widelydisseminated among the general public? Even more importantly, how can suchinformation be transformed into knowledge among citizens? (Eurobarometer, 2). ThepointisstilltheonestatedbyHenriot:

The taskof rationalizingdecisionmaking requiresnotonlydiscretebitsof informationbutalso theorganizationof that information intocoherentpatterns. Itseemscertain thatmoreandmoredatawillbegatheredatalllevelsofgovernment;whatislesscertainandyetmoresignificantisthatthedatawillbeeffectivelycoordinated(1970:237).

Thereisalsoanotherpoint:policydecisionsinEuropeareincreasinglytakeninthe

supranationaland

intergovernmental

arenas,

while

the

nation

state

has

remained

the

primaryfocusforcollectiveidentities,andpublicdebatesandcitizensparticipationinthepolicyprocessstillseemmainlysituatedatthenationstatelevelanddirectedatnationalauthorities,thusattheoriginofEuropesdemocraticdeficit(Koopmans&Erbe2004:97).

Although citizens are bombarded by information on a constant basis, thisbombardmentdoesnotnecessarilybring aboutknowledge (Giovannini2008a:178). Ifwhatpeopleknowmustnotbeconfusedwith theamountof information theyreceiveeverydayandabsorb from themostdisparatesources (Giovannini2008b:5), thenwehave to argue that there is not an automatic equivalence between knowledge and

exposition

to

information.

As

Somin

reminds

us,

we

have

witnessed

little

or

no

change

in

politicalknowledgelevelsoverthelast50years,despitegreatlyincreasededucationlevelsand a parallel increase in the availability of information through electronic and othermedia (2006:270).Asstatedbya reportby theNationalResearchCouncil,giventhe

tablesorby referencetopercentage increaseordecrease (Cockcroft1982:11;cit. inODonoghue2002:47).


20/29




relatively low level of numerical and statistical literacy in the population at large, itbecomes especially important to provide userswith interfaces that give them useful,meaningful information. []Thegoal is toprovidenotmerelyadata setbutalso toolsthatallowmakingsenseofthedata.(NRC2000,20).

Giovannini (2007) identifies those tools in the ability to harness the energy ofcollaborativedatasharingthroughthelikesofWeb2.0,andwiththegrowinginfluenceofblogging and themany tools that facilitate the rapid transferof information.But thiscannot be confused with a simplistic enthusiastic support for information andcommunication technology, given that it reduced the cost of producing statistics andnowadays a huge number of organisations is able to produce statistical figures andindices, frequently picked up by media [] and this contributes to create a sense ofconfusion []. This noise does not help at all citizens to make the best possiblechoices, including theelectoralones,and this isnotagood thing for the functioningofeconomicmarkets and the democracy (Giovannini 2008a: 178).Unfortunately, fewerattentionhasbeendedicated tostatisticscommunication,while itshouldbeseenasanintegralpartof theirproductionanddissemination (Maggino&Trapani2009:2).Betterlevelsofcommunicatinganddisseminatingresultsaresurelywelcomed,butthiswillsort

noeffects

without

adequate

numeracy

and

literacy

levels

both

on

public

and

policy

makersside.

ConcludingremarksStatistics quality is a long time studied subject, but a lot has to be written on

indicatorconstruction(andthequestion iswhyusingsuchan indicator?)oron indicesformulation(andthequestionishowmanyinformationareweacceptingtolooseinthesynthesisprocess?).Qualityof informationvisualization isakey subject for the future,

strictlyinterrelated

to

dissemination

process

and

to

the

citizens

numeracy:

how

many

timeshavewe listen toanaffirmation likehmmm statistics?Numbersarenot forme,thanks!? Better presentations and reinforcement of dissemination alone are notsufficient:acitizenneedtobeabletoread,write,calculateandreadnumbers.

Wehaveseenthatsocialphenomenaquantificationwasnotaneasytask,andthatseveralconcomitantfactors introducednumbers intothepublicdiscourse.Fromaphasewhenbasic informationsuchaspopulationwasunknown, to theone inwhichnumbers


21/29




wereknownbuthadtobekeptsecret,wehavearrivedtilltoday,withalargeamountofdataavailable,butwithlittlesupporttocitizensknowledge.Ourissurelyaninformationsociety,butisitaknowledgesociety?LetmeclosequotingMillswords:

Freedomisnotmerelythechancetodoasonepleases;neitherisitmerelytheopportunitytochoosebetweensetalternatives.Freedom is, firstofall,thechance to formulatetheavailable

choices,

to

argue

over

them

and

then,

the

opportunity

to

choose.

That

is

why

freedom

cannot

existwithoutanenlargedroleofhumanreasoninhumanaffairs(Mills1959:174).

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