Blue Books
The term “blue book” refers to “a book of specialized information” or a “booklet used for writing examinations.”1 In either case, it’s a compendium of facts, sometimes accompanied by commentary.
Wisconsin’s most famous Blue Book is a comprehensive state government reference volume published every two years by the state’s Legislative Reference Bureau. The first edition came out in 1853.
This newsletter likewise aims to be a reliable source for stats-based insight into Wisconsin’s politics, demographics, and housing. My goal is not just to provide a factual record, but to also draw back the curtain on how those ‘facts’ are produced and what their uses and limitations are.
LLMs are swamping the internet with slop. My promise to the readers of this newsletter is that nothing you encounter here—images or otherwise—will ever be AI-generated. Any stilted prose is my own, not a robot’s.
Additional resources
I work in the Marquette Law School’s Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education. Here’s my professional contact info.
Most posts have a corresponding GitHub repository with source code and data.
You can follow me (for now) on X or at Bluesky.
Blue Book’s logo is a modified version of Milwaukee’s Centurama Flag.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition. Other, less-relevant meanings include “a register esp. of socially prominent persons” and “a periodically issued price list (as of used cars).”
