By Michael Bitzer
On Friday, August 1, after what most described as a lackluster employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that showed only 77,000 jobs were added to the economy, with the unemployment rate at 4.2 percent, President Donald Trump directed that the BLS commissioner, who oversees the data gather and statistics reporting, be removed.
In doing so, Trump stated "'In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.'"
Government statistics and data have traditionally been seen as apolitical--collecting and reporting as best as the government agency can, with traditionally adjustments with further data provided to previous months. A core belief is that government-researched and produced data is free from political influence.
Friday's BLS Employment Situation Summary report is one of thousands of government reports that track a variety of topics and issues in American society, produced typically by non-partisan experts and provided to the public and policy makers to help inform, understand, and ground debates around facts.
In its Survey of American Democracy, the June 2025 Catawba-YouGov Survey of 1,000 North Carolinians asked about the importance of a variety of principles to American democracy, one of them being how North Carolinians viewed the importance of "Government statistics and data are produced by experts who are not influenced by political considerations."
Eighty-six (86) percent of North Carolinians overall believe the principle of politically-free government statistics and data, produced by experts, is important (very/somewhat) to American democracy.
Among partisans, both self-identifying Republicans and Democrats agree, with 88 percent of each saying it was important. Independents were slightly below the partisans, but at 85 percent.
Only 3 percent of all North Carolinians believed that this principle was not important.
In looking within the survey data, two important groups stand out for the strong support of government statistics being free of partisan and political influence.
Among ideology, both conservatives and liberals were slightly higher than the overall number in the levels of importance regarding non-politicization of data.
Those who self-identified as liberal or very liberal saw 95 percent express importance, while those who are conservative or very conservative saw 88 percent importance to the principle.
Among those respondents who gave their 2024 presidential vote choice (or indicated that they hadn't voted for president), we see again commonality among partisans when it comes to this principle's importance.
Stacking statistics to favorably frame data on behalf of the ruling group with governing power is a hallmark of autocratic regimes. As one researcher noted:
Autocratic leaders have an incentive not to share accurate information if it might lead to their removal via mass mobilization. That is, full and accurate disclosure may enable citizens, firstly, to become aware of any failure in government policy and, secondly, to realize that their fellow citizens are also aware of that failure.
And as reported in Monday's New York Times:
“Official statistics, government statistics are a mirror that society holds up to itself,” (said Andreas Georgiou, who led the government of Greece's statistical agency). “If society cannot see itself clearly, then it cannot identify its problems... If it cannot identify its problems, then it cannot find the right solutions. It cannot find the right persons to solve these problems.”
Information control becomes not just a tool of undemocratic governance, but a shield against accountability, collective dissent, and ultimately public knowledge and trust.
When more than 8 in 10 North Carolinians say it's important to keep government data free from political influence, one would hope that the rest of the nation—and many different groups within our country—would share this commitment to a little-known but vital principle of American democracy.
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Dr. Michael Bitzer holds the Leonard Chair Political Science at Catawba College, where he directs the Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service and oversees the Catawba-YouGov Survey.
You can find information on the three findings from the Survey of American Democracy polls taken in June 2025 at these links:
- Survey of American Democracy: Principles of Governing Authority
- Survey of American Democracy: Principles of Liberties & Rights
- Survey of American Democracy: Civic Participation
