The Effects of Peer Political Endorsements on Asian Americans’ Partisan Views

• In Event: Race, Identity, and the Determinants of Asian American Political Behavior

Abstract

Asian Americans, the fastest growing racial group in the US, are voting for Democrats at high levels. According to exit polls, most Asian Americans voted for Democrats in every presidential election since 2000. What explains Asian Americans’ vote choices? More generally, how do Asian Americans develop partisan views? I seek to answer these questions, developing and testing a theory grounded in partisan influence from peer networks. The theory, which I call “social transmission,” predicts that immigrants and their children develop partisan orientations through the diffusion of views from peers, rather than through the family. Using a survey experiment, I will explore whether political endorsements from peer networks have a causal effect on Asian Americans’ partisan attitudes. Specifically, I test whether learning that their peers support a political proposal attributed to either the Democratic or Republican Party makes Asian American college students express greater support for that party. In an experiment conducted on Asian American and non-Asian students at a public university, I will manipulate the partisan direction of policy statements about higher education and whether members of the respondent’s known peer groups endorse the message. The results will have important implications for understanding partisan acquisition and political learning among Asian Americans and other immigrant groups.

Author

• Tanika Raychaudhuri, University of Houston