Political statistics lose validity once masses become politically active

Evidence

But the fact has not been properly emphasised that statistical laws can be employed in the science and art of politics only so long as the great masses of the population remain (or at least are reputed to remain) essentially passive, in relation to the questions which interest historians and politicians. Furthermore the extension of statistics to the science and art of politics can have very serious consequences to the extent that it is adopted for working out future perspectives and programmes of action. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1530

Categorization

• XREF: Connects forward to the critique of polling and demographic data on Muslim populations that presupposes passivity; also resonates with Foucault’s biopolitics in the reader’s toolkit. — connects to: Statistical laws in politics presuppose mass passivity (actual or presumed). — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1530