Counting on the future: changing demographics.Demographic forecasting is becoming a popular tool to help lawmakers make informed decisions on myriad public policy issues, a leading demographer told state legislators and staff at the National Conference of State Legislatures' 2005 "Strong States, Strong Nation" meeting. Emerging demographics will have ramifications ramifications npl → Auswirkungen pl for future elections, public policy and the country's workforce. Electoral College electoral college, in U.S. government, the body of electors that chooses the president and vice president. The Constitution, in Article 2, Section 1, provides: "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, numbers are sure to be altered in the next couple decades, said William H. Frey, a demographer from the University of Michigan's Population Studies Center and the Brookings Institution Brookings Institution, at Washington, D.C.; chartered 1927 as a consolidation of the Institute for Government Research (est. 1916), the Institute of Economics (est. 1922), and the Robert S. Brookings Graduate School of Economics and Government (est. 1924). . By 2030, he believes Florida and Texas, for example, will gain nine and eight Electoral College votes, respectively. By that same year, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of could lose six votes and Pennsylvania and Ohio four. In the 2004 election, final presidential Electoral College results favored "red states" (Republican) over "blue states" (Democrat) 286 to 252. Frey believes by 2032 "red state" numbers in the Electoral College could outpace "blue states" by a margin of 303 to 235. "The good news for Democrats", said Frey, "is that demographers are often wrong." Frey believes three main engines are driving changing demographics in America: immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. , the aging of the Baby Boomer baby boomer also ba·by-boom·er n. A member of a baby-boom generation. Noun 1. baby boomer - a member of the baby boom generation in the 1950s; "they expanded the schools for a generation of baby boomers" boomer generation, and the middle class flight from expensive urban and coastal areas into the interior West and Southeast. He breaks changing demographics down into three distinct regions: Melting Pot melting pot America as the home of many races and cultures. [Am. Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : America , New Sunbelt and Heartland. The Melting Pot region includes major metro areas with racially diverse and immigrant populations. The New Sunbelt region encompasses expanding communities in the South and West that lie outside dense, urbanized areas. The Heartland region includes some 29 states that do not see high levels of migration and, for the most part, are older and less diverse. Frey noted that racial demographics for America show that in the next 50 years Hispanics and Asians will triple their size, and African Americans will double their numbers. The white population is expected to stay relatively the same. He also explained that the 2000 Census shows that more people are identifying themselves as one or more races. |
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