Yu-Shiuan (Lily) Huang

PhD Candidate
Department of Political Science
University of California, Davis

Hello! I’m a PhD candidate in Political Science at University of California, Davis. My research agenda examines the intersection of party attachment as a social identity, public opinion, and political behavior, primarily through the lens of in-party favoritism. In my dissertation, I investigate why are those who voted for the governing party, i.e., winners, more inclined to support the governing party’s violations of democratic norms? What motivates winners to abandon democratic principles? 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 than losers due to winners’ warmer evaluations (affect) of their in-party. Using observational data and experiments in survey setting, my research sheds light on the inherent political bias within democratic structures based on positive partisanship.

Education

PhD in Political Science, 2026 (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