Changes in Political Attitudes among Asian Americans Due to Pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session: Racial and Ethnic Politics & Security and MENA Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Racial and Ethnic Politics

Abstract

An essential question in the chapter is whether the Covid-19 pandemic has caused any significant changes in Asian American political attitudes or behavior. In this chapter, we examine whether Asian Americans show distinct patterns of variation by national origin or whether Asian Americans as a pan-ethnic group reveal specific political leanings or attitudes. When looking at studies focusing on Asian Americans, the literature is divided into two camps: those that find distinct political attitudes and behaviors based on national origin and those that find that Asian Americans generally have similar political tendencies. Since the pandemic, there has been a spike in hate crimes against them and a discriminatory environment, which has naturally led to more frequent situations in which they are more likely to identify as Asian American. If this is the case, then Asian Americans should be more likely to be recognized as Asian Americans than they were before the pandemic, and there should be relatively common political attitudes and behaviors among them. The CCES data we will use to analyze this will include a question to identify the national origin of Asian Americans every year since 2016, and data through 2022 is now publicly available, allowing us to test the hypotheses. The data also includes a large sample size of nearly 60,000 respondents - of which Asian Americans comprise 1,600-2,100 - and allows us to further explore the national origins of Asian Americans by breaking them down into 11 Asian countries.

Author

• Chan Song Kim, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee