Crisis, Resilience, and Civic Engagement: Pandemic-Era Census Completion
General Information
Title
Crisis, Resilience, and Civic Engagement: Pandemic-Era Census Completion
Author
Elaine Denny
Publication Type
Working paper
Outlet
University of California Political Science
Year
2021
Abstract
How do economic shocks and financial resilience shape civic engagement, especially for the economically insecure? I turn to the early months of the coronavirus pandemic for insights. In April 2020, with over 23 million adults unemployed, the U.S. government asked residents to participate in the Constitutionally-mandated decennial census. I test how variations in income shocks from the shutdown and sources of financial resilience predict disparities in census completion – a civic act designed to minimize participation barriers. First, I use nationally-representative survey data to show how policies that protect the economically vulnerable from the full impacts of economic shocks also predict higher census completion rates. Then, I use Google Trends data show that high unemployment search volume interacted with low resilience predicts depressed census completion. Findings shed light on how economic crises can widen participation gaps – with representation and resource consequences – and how policies that lessen acute economic shocks may reduce participation disparities.