As an European, it seems weird that in the US you don't need to register your address at all, leading to this last-cenutry 10-year Census process.

As an American who now lives in Germany, it does make me think how the U.S works at all without this "registration". There are times where you fill out government forms with your address, but there's no way to know for sure where someone is living at any given moment. As far as the "government" is concerned (which government? state, local, federal? AFAIK it's all pretty decentralised) I'm still living at the place I registered to vote from years ago.

I suppose it's cultural differences. There's a staunchly individualistic attitude in the US and the idea of a central government tracking its citizens is very unpopular. I get it, too. If you take a look at the "Anmeldung" process in Germany, where the government has a list of everyone and their race/religion/nationality, along with exactly where they live/which building/which floor/which side of the building, you can see how such a system could be dangerous if Germany were to ever shift from the liberal democracy it is today.

Yes I guess it's the cultural differences. But in reality, if the US government wants to find out where you live, they're going to find out :-)

Also, as another child comment said, filling out religion and gender is optional, and no form ever asks for race (at least in Germany and Switzerland I know that for sure).

On the other hand, having better data about citizens makes a lot of things more efficient and fair in government and politics. As I said, I think the US Census is a disaster and always leads to unfair outcomes for minorities and lower class people.

But I agree, it would be better if they woulnd't ask for religion at all.

They’re asking for your religion because it makes a difference in your taxes and days free of work

Days of free work you need to take up with your employer. They're asking for the church tax.

Heck, I remember it getting drilled into me in middle school that the Nazis were able to kill so many Jewish people because they had complete records of where everyone lived and their religious affiliation. When the time came, they knew what doors to knock on. It boggles my mind that this system still exists in modern Germany, of all places.

The American model is highly distributed and need-to-know. Many government forms ask for your current address, but it is not automatically shared with the police and there is no requirement to update it in a timely manner.

Many Americans are highly skeptical of the police, and for good reason. Expecting people to go to the police to register when moving would be a complete non-starter in most neighborhoods that I have lived.

America is even more extreme - there the state asks you for your political affiliation in many cases. That’s absolutely crazy to me.

This is somehow connected to the fact that US political parties are mostly not mass membership organisations.

Everywhere else in the world, if you strongly support a party, you join it, and pay a membership fee, and the party adds you to a register. Then, you can take part in party activities, like internal elections.

In the US, you register as a supporter of a particular party with the state. Then, everyone registered can take part in (some) party activities, like primaries.

It's a weird system, and i don't know how it started, but because Americans don't realise it's weird, there isn't much written about it!

Hmm I've never been asked this on any official form other than when I register to vote (so I can join a party), and that's optional.

Right... but why does the state want to know which party you're a member of? This doesn't get supervised by the state in other countries. It's usually a personal, private matter between you and the party.

It's for two reasons:

First we have a system of primary elections, and in many jurisdictions your party registration status determines which primary you can vote in. You have to be registered Democrat to vote Democrat, registered Republican to vote Republican, etc. The local election board is the one who oversees to vote, so they need to know your party registration in order to make sure you get the right ballot and the right ballot information (which is sent by mail beforehand). In many jurisdictions you can also "decline to state" and then in a primary election you have to tell them each time which ballot you want.

Second, it's used in state redistricting. Having this information be public allows auditors to check if redistricting is resulting in gerrymandering.

But I feel like I can keep asking ‘why’. Why does the state have its nose in political party business? Why are they running party primaries? Seems like something that should be firewalled off from the state?

In other countries parties run their own candidate selections as private business and the state can’t meddle in it, so the state doesn’t have to ask what what your affiliation is.

Ah, right, sure that's a good point but I wouldn't say it's more "extreme" than other countries, seeing as it's a totally optional thing. I can vote in elections without being affiliated with a party. In Germany, for example you don't have the choice but to have your race/gender/religion/address on file with the central government.

Disclaimer: I'm not complaining about how it is in Germany/other countries in Europe. The trust in government is quite high here, and for a good reason :)

Race and religion are definitely not required (=optional for you to give) when you register for permanent residency in Germany. Source: I am a german who completed the form multiple times after moving.

AFAIK there's a direct connection between the church you are apart of and the government via Kirchensteuer.

As it relates to ethnicity, you're right. I can no longer edit my original comment though.

I think you can say “no religion” though and then not pay your tithing taxes, no? There’s no requirement that if you are Jewish you register as such (but then, your synagogue misses out on money).

Hmm I've read stories of people getting in trouble for being members of a church and not paying their church tax.

Yes exactly, you can easily opt out from the church tax (of course, ideal it should have been opt in).

The US census is also intended to count people without an address.

Also, in the US it is state governments that are the authority for most things pertaining to where people live: property and rental law, identification cards, property taxes, voters registration, etc. Most states do require people to change their voters registration and drivers license when they move between states.

It’s not that strange that you don’t register your address with the federal government, when in fact, the only interaction that many Americans have with the federal government at all is their yearly tax filing.

In reality, there are a lot of problems with the Census that in the end unproportionally effect minorities and lower income folks negatively.

It's the same in Germany and Switzerland (and I think in a lot of other European countries): You register with your local government when you move, not the federal government.

> leading to this last-cenutry 10-year Census process

What are you referring to? We have a every-ten-year census mandate built into our constitution. It’s been an ongoing thing since the 18th century.

The census results are mostly kept private and anonymized, with only aggregate data being shared.

In other countries the role of the census is significantly lessened in modern times because basic population questions can be answered with "instantaneous" (in terms of when it was measured, if not when you get the results) data. The idea of waiting increments of 10 years to get basic counts of where people are living / moving to / from seems ridiculous. Deeper demographic information is usually handled via sampling, and does not require the nationwide (and especially this time, logistically taxing) mobilization of census-takers.

I do agree it would be difficult for the US to shift to such a system given the requirement is constitutional rather than merely a procedure of the civil service.

It's not really registering with the police, though they probably get access to the information. When you do it you go to the council building and register there (at least when I last did it several years ago), so it's more like registering with the city. This means that things like local taxes and such go to you automatically. I do know a lot of people who aren't registered where they live, because they're illegally subletting or something so they're registered at their parents' place or whatever. It's pretty accepted that this is common.

Ya, the latter doesn’t really work in Switzerland, where they bring in swat if you aren’t registered properly, much to my shock.

As a Canadian, I concur. I've lived in other countries with a pretty strict registration requirement and it always felt odd. I was always thinking "why do the police need to know where I live? I haven't done anything wrong".

It's really useful information for things like mailing your tax returns, verifying which municipality should receive taxes and also affects you social security. Sending voting information. For police they need to know where to send court documents and so on.

In Finland it's not really handled by police, usually done with Posti. Other great thing is that it also updates your details to most places...

I see registering your place of living is quite importand when dealing with local taxes. Ie when staying in one place for longer than some period of time, alos same information is used for social purposes, for example to assign your kids a place in kindergarten or school. It just so happens that this responsibility is assigned to police. By the way passport issuing is also i think is under police in LT. And yeah tourists who stay for long periods are handled with same subroutine (if i can say so). Stay at one place for prolonget period of time, please register.

??? My memory is fuzzy now, but I’m 99% sure the same rule applies in the USA

Nope.

The US does do this. I’m always asked where I’m staying when I cross into the US. I have to write it on my landing card and they ask me about it at the border. And this is someone who doesn’t need a visa, even.

that’s something different. Every country asks where you will be staying on their immigration entry forms. This thread is about local police, no immigration and customs agencies.

In Germany, it is required that when you move to a new apartment you walk into the nearest police station or town hall within a few days and fill out a form telling them your new address, who you live with, what their religious affiliations are, etc. You will get in trouble with the police if you do not do this.

In China they take it even further, and even tourist have to do the same. If you stay in an Airbnb in China and do not register with the local police, it is possible you can get in real trouble. This is not “write your hotel’s address on the immigration form”, it is “tell the local cops where to find you.” There is a huge difference in my mind at least.

> This is not “write your hotel’s address on the immigration form”, it is “tell the local cops where to find you.” There is a huge difference in my mind at least.

I'm sure it all goes into the same database.

Not on the USA. Maybe the feds have access to all these databases, but I guarantee the local police don’t. Things are very distributed here.