Politics is, by definition, adversarial. Its systems are designed to bring together people with competing views, so that they might argue over and decide on the “affairs of the cities” – which is the literal translation of the Greek word πολιτικά (Politiká). But, in recent times, politics has felt like it has become more adversarial, more polarised.
On the morning of 8 November 2016, many Americans went to bed confident that Hillary Clinton would be elected the nation’s first female president. Their confidence was driven, in no small part, by a pervasive message that Clinton was ahead in the polls and forecasts leading up to the election.
Voting intention polls appear to have an accuracy problem. The UK House of Lords recently instructed the polling industry “to get its house in order”, citing its failure to predict the outcomes of the 2015 and 2017 general elections and the 2016 “Brexit” referendum. The Lords report stated that: “For each of those events, albeit to varying degrees, the polls ‘called it wrong’.” But is this recent poor performance a temporary blip? Or is it part of a longer term decline in accuracy?
Plans to dismantle Puerto Rico’s Institute of Statistics (PRIS) have been altered at the 11th hour, meaning the agency will continue as an independently controlled, government funded entity – at least for the time being.
Puerto Rico's senators have approved a plan to dismantle the island's independent Institute of Statistics (PRIS). The plan will see the institute become part of the government's Department of Economic Development, which would then outsource statistical work to the private sector.
