Election 2026: Asian American Voting in the Age of Partisan Negativity and “Reform”

With the rapid growth of Asian American populations in North Carolina, there is an increasing enthusiasm for political participation among these communities. This presentation is intended to engage these communities through academic, educational, and civic conversations.

The talk by John Aldrich, Pfizer–Pratt University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science, will be followed by a discussion with members of the Duke community and North Carolina Asian American communities about U.S. elections and Asian American voting, moderated by Professor Kang Liu (AMES). 

_{For those unable to attend in-person, an online option is available. Registration is required to view the event via Zoom.}

About the speaker:

John Herbert Aldrich is an American political scientist and Pfizer-Pratt University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Duke, noted for his scholarship on American politics, elections, political parties, formal theory, and methodology. He is the author of influential works such as Why Parties? and co-author of the long-running “Change and Continuity” election series.

Professor Aldrich is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served as President of the Southern Political Science Association, Midwest Political Science Association, and the American Political Science Association.

Books he has authored or co-authored include Why Parties; Why Parties Matter; Before the Convention; Linear Probability, Logit and Probit Models; Interdisciplinarity: Its Role in a Discipline-Based Academy and a series of books on U.S. elections, the most recent of which is Change and Continuity in the 2020 Elections.

Professor Aldrich has been actively involved in research and practice of China’s village elections in collaboration with the Carter Center, and conducted public opinion surveys about China’s global image. He co-directs the Duke Program of Research on China with Professor Kang Liu.

About the discussant:

Ya Liu is the first Chinese American woman elected as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. She has represented the 21st district since 2023, rising to the position of NC House Democratic Whip. She served on the Cary Town Council from 2019 to 2023. Liu holds a PhD in Sociology from North Carolina State University, and a JD from North Carolina Central University. She previously worked as a lecturer at the Duke University School of Law.

About the moderator:

Kang Liu is a Professor of Asian and African Languages and Literature in the Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, and Co-Director of the Duke Program of Research on China. Since 2015, he has been a fellow of the Academy of Europe. He is the author of fourteen books, and has written widely in scholarly journals in both English and Chinese. In addition, he frequently contributes op-eds, interviews, and reviews to American and Chinese media.

Liu’s research covers contemporary issues of culture, ideology, and politics focusing on China and the U.S., within the contexts of globalization and anti-globalization, and the recent global rise of nationalism and populism. Since 2009, Professor Liu and Professor Aldrich have collaborated on a project conducting public opinion surveys about China’s global image.

_{event co-sponsors: APSI; Duke Program of Research on China; Duke Chinese Students & Scholars Association; MOVENC; Chinese American Friendship Association of NC; NC Asian American Alliance; NC Chinese American Society}