Hello! I’m a PhD candidate in Political Science at UC Davis. My current research agenda examines the relationship between affective polarization and (anti)democratic attitudes, with a primary focus on in-party favoritism and its effects, framed through the lens of political psychology. In my dissertation, I investigate what drives voters who supported the governing party—the electoral winners—to be more willing to endorse the governing party’s breaches of democratic norms. I argue that winners are more likely to endorse violations of democratic principles compared to losers not due to a deliberate pursuit of political gain, but because they are more affectively polarized due to warmer evaluations (affect) of their in-party. Using observational data and experiments in survey setting, my research sheds light on how intensified in-party favoritism makes winners more likely to allow their partisan identity to influence their perceptions of democracy, leading them to rationalize violations of democratic norms without recognizing them as inherently undemocratic.
Education
PhD in Political Science, 2025 (expected) |
University of California, Davis
MA in Political Science, 2019 |
National Taiwan University
BA in Political Science & BBA in Accounting, 2017 |
National Taiwan University
Research interests
Comparative Political Behavior | Affective Polarization | Political Psychology | Democratic Backsliding | Experimental Design