NationStates Jolt Archive

On NS, I've noticed people casually mentioning precise statistics of their nations. They're nearly always accurate and up-to-date. Yet when I look at their nations, they reject citizen surveillance (like security cameras, barcoding, IDs, etc.) and other methods a government uses to keep an eye on the population.
This means that they must have other means of keeping track of the nation's state, such as paying for nation-wide surveys and studies.

So, how much does a census actually cost? Could a country of 800 million really afford keeping a bi-weekly updated record of its population?
If anyone studies the subject irl or, even better, works for a census bureau, tell me how much the total costs are.

Heh, that's just why my nation is listed as having "a population between 375 and 1,200 million" in our factbook, available here (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=87949&highlight=) ;)

The other problem is 'fluid time' on NS. People may update every week in RL, which could mean anything from a week to six months to seven years for their NS nation. At the higher time ratios, updating every two weeks (or, every decade) seem to be a pretty long time to go without a census update.

An up-to-date census is vital for a democratic electoral process, the system which tends not to barcode citizens. While census costs are likely substantial, so would be the costs for an election (dictatorship is cheaper than democracy!*). And, with those costs taken into account, think of the costs for security cameras across a nation, and staff to observe them... not to mention the massive expense of installing barcodes on all citizens!

*not an accurate statement

The statstics, for the Rejistanian factbook are eighter from the residents registration office (population numbers) or taken from representative surveys. It is much cheaper to ask 10,000 people, that the entire country.

One reason why I have barcodes...

Of course barcoding and surveillance cams cost money, but it's already built into the game's code. If you choose zero surveillance and maximum privacy, you should be prepared to pay the cost for either a separate census or accept the fact that your government is in the dark.