Franklin L. Burdette Pi Sigma Alpha Award Winners Announced

CaptureAlexander Kuo from Cornell University, Neil Malhotra from Stanford Graduate School of Business and Cecilia Hyunjung Mo from Vanderbilt University have been awarded for their work on “Why Do Asian Americans Identify as Democrats? Testing Theories of Social Exclusion and Intergroup Solidarity.”

The Franklin L. Burdette Pi Sigma Alpha prize is awarded annually for the best paper presented at the previous year’s annual meeting. The award is supported by Pi Sigma Alpha.

This paper examines why nearly three-fourths of Asian Americans vote for Democratic candidates in presidential elections, despite prevailing research that indicates they should vote for Republicans because of their relatively high income. The authors show that both social exclusion (being viewed as “less American” than others) and intergroup solidarity (perceived common interests with other ethnic minorities that support the Democratic Party) explain Asian Americans’ support for Democratic candidates. These findings are supported by a large-scale representative survey and two experimental studies. This excellent paper contributes to our understanding of identity politics and the coalitional bases of political parties.

Award Committee:
David Canon, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Jonathan Fox, American University
Anna Law, CUNY Brooklyn College
Recipients: Alexander Kuo, Cornell University; Neil Malhotra, Stanford Graduate School of Business; and Cecilia Hyunjung Mo, Vanderbilt University

Title: “Why Do Asian Americans Identify as Democrats? Testing Theories of Social Exclusion and Intergroup Solidarity.”

Read more about Alexander Kuo here
Read more about Neil Malhotra here
Read more about Cecilia Hyunjung Mo here