@article{Horiuchi2026HP0001,
  author = {John J. Cho and Mia Costa and Yusaku Horiuchi},
  title = {Descriptive or Partisan Representation? Examining Trade-Offs for Asian Americans},
  year = {2026},
  journal = {British Journal of Political Science},
  volume = {56},
  number = {isan},
  doi = {10.1017/S0007123425101324},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123425101324},
  abstract = {Do voters want representatives who share their race, ethnicity, or partisanship? We examine this question with a focus on Asian Americans who face trade-offs between descriptive (that is, Asian American or ‘pan-ethnic’) and partisan representation, as well as trade-offs involving ‘co-ethnic’ (for example, Korean for Korean) and ‘cross-ethnic’ (for example, Indian for Korean) descriptive representation. Across two experiments, we find that when Asian Americans are asked about collective representation in Congress, they prioritize more co-ethnic and pan-ethnic legislators over co-partisan legislators. However, in a competitive electoral setting, they often trade off race/ethnicity for partisanship. Asian Americans are only willing to cross party lines to vote for a co-ethnic candidate, but never for a cross- or pan-ethnic candidate. These findings shed light on the importance of considering heterogeneous preferences along ethnicities within the same racial ‘in-group’, such as Asian Americans, a heavily understudied and heterogeneous group in American politics.}
}