About

Tanika Raychaudhuri is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Rice University. She earned her PhD from the Department of Politics at Princeton University in 2019. Following her doctoral studies, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston. Her research focuses on American politics, particularly civic engagement in immigrant communities, political behavior, and public opinion. Her first book, The Social Roots of Asian American Partisanship: From Political Learning to Partisan Leanings (Oxford University Press 2025), investigates how Asian Americans, the fastest growing racial group in the US, learn about American politics and develop partisan preferences. The book introduces a new theory called "social transmission," which emphasizes the role of peer influence in shaping partisan views among Asian Americans, especially in the absence of strong parental partisan anchoring. This theory is supported by a variety of qualitative and quantitative evidence, including national surveys, in-depth interviews, a longitudinal survey of college students, and an original survey experiment. Raychaudhuri's work explains the puzzle of Asian Americans' partisan preferences and identifies a new pathway of political learning among minority groups, offering important insights into political behavior in immigrant communities and the future of American electoral politics. Her research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed academic journals such as American Politics Research, Electoral Studies, The Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Politics, Groups, and Identities, and PS: Political Science & Politics. Her work has also been featured in media outlets including The Conversation, Scroll.In, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. She has received several awards, including the Best Paper on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics (with Chinbo Chong) and the Best Poster (with Stephanie Chan and Ali Valenzuela) from the American Political Science Association in 2021, as well as the Lucius Barker Award (with Nathan Chan) in 2024 from the Midwest Political Science Association for the best paper investigating race or ethnicity and politics. Raychaudhuri graduated with highest honors and highest distinction with a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan in 2014 and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Demographic economics
• Economics
• Social psychology
• Psychology
• Social Science
• Psychiatry
• Geography
• Demography
• Economic growth
• Gender studies
• Development economics
• Law
• Medicine
• Criminology
• Political economy

Selected publications

• Interactions with College Peers and Political Learning on Campus

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2025-08-29

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Chapter 5 considers a case study of Asian American political learning on college campuses to further explore the mechanisms of peer influence. College is a useful context for testing the theory of social transmission because Asian Americans attend college at high rates and campuses are tightly knit social environments. This chapter explores whether Asian American youth, who were raised in the US but rarely discussed politics with their parents at home, develop political views through interactions with college peers. One prediction from the theory of social transmission is that Asian American students are open to political influence from white, Latino, and African American peers who enter college with strongly anchored views developed through the family. This chapter tests this expectation using a longitudinal survey of over 150,000 college students nationwide, interviewed as they entered and exited college. The analyses explore whether Asian Americans enter college with less crystallized views than their peers from other racial groups. Next, the chapter considers whether social interactions with campus peers change the political orientations of Asian American students, as well as students from other racial groups. The results convey that campus peer groups influence the political attitudes of Asian American college students.

  PublisherDOI

• Local Partisan Context and Vote Choice in Asian American Communities

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2025-08-29

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Chapter 3 presents the first empirical test of the theory of social transmission, exploring whether local partisan context influences Asian Americans’ voting decisions. The theory of social transmission predicts that Asian American vote choice reflects local partisan norms. This chapter considers whether living in predominantly Democratic areas increases the likelihood of voting for Democrats, relative to living in mixed partisan or Republican areas. Analyses of over 2,000 responses to the 2008 National Asian American Survey demonstrate that living in predominantly Democratic counties increased the likelihood of voting for Obama in the 2008 presidential election. This relationship holds for Asian Americans as a pan-ethnic group and for the six largest national origin subgroups within the community: Chinese Americans, Indian Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, Filipino Americans, and Vietnamese Americans. This relationship also persists after accounting for a range of alternative explanations for Asian American vote choice and the possibility of residential selection. The results offer evidence that the social transmission of partisan norms within local environments shapes Asian Americans’ voting decisions.

  PublisherDOI

• List of Figures

  2025-08-29

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• NAAS Cross-Tabulations and Additional Survey Results (Chapter 3)

  2025-08-29

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Political Endorsements from Peers in Campus Social Networks

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2025-08-29

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Chapter 6 presents original experiments that offer a direct causal test of the social transmission account. Does receiving partisan cues endorsed by peer networks influence Asian Americans’ partisan views compared to similar messages without social endorsements? The experiments test whether learning that many undergraduates at their university support a policy proposal attributed to either major party makes Asian American college students support the party and policy in question. The studies were conducted with Asian American and non-Asian students at a large public university and a diverse range of colleges across the country. Participants were presented with an infographic describing a policy to make higher education more affordable. The experiments randomly manipulated whether the policy proposal was attributed to Democrats or Republicans and whether most undergraduates on campus supported the proposal. Comparing the impact of viewing versions of the infographic with and without the peer group endorsement offers causal evidence of peer partisan influence, particularly in Republican direction. This conveys that peer endorsements can increase Asian Americans’ support for a political party. Moreover, the partisan effects of peer cues are stronger for Asian Americans than students from other racial groups, suggesting that Asian American students are particularly open to partisan cues from peers.

  PublisherDOI

• List of Tables

  2025-08-29

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Immigration and Political Incorporation: Asian American Representation in State Legislatures

  State Politics & Policy Quarterly · 2025-03-25 · 20 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the US electorate, yet they are significantly under-represented in political office. How do predominantly immigrant groups like Asian Americans close this representation gap? We build on existing theories of minority representation and immigrant assimilation by highlighting the importance of a group’s political incorporation into American society. We argue that the representation of minority immigrant groups in political office requires social integration and the acquisition of civic resources, processes that can take considerable time. Using new data on Asian American state legislators spanning half a century, we find that immigration in prior decades is associated with greater political representation, while contemporaneous population size has either no independent impact or a negative one. Other indicators of immigrant social integration, including citizenship status, language ability, education, and income, also predict the likelihood of co-racial representation in political office. Our results suggest political representation gaps of immigrant groups narrow over time, though this may be a non-linear process. Our findings also imply that the least integrated members of immigrant groups are the most likely to be affected by representational deficits.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Political Influence of Diverse Asian American Communities

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2025-08-29

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Chapter 1 introduces the book by presenting relevant context about Asian American population growth and voting patterns, as well as an overview of the book’s central argument and empirical evidence. The chapter begins with the contemporary example of the role Asian American voters played in the 2020 Georgia Senate special elections. This example illustrates the centrality of Asian Americans to the winning coalitions of Democratic candidates in recent close elections. Next, it discusses the rapid growth of diverse Asian American ethnic subgroups and Asian American voting patterns over the past 30 years. Most Asian Americans have voted for Democrats in presidential elections since 2000, but Republican vote share has increased in recent years. These patterns lead to several key research questions: Why do most Asian American voters favor Democratic over Republican candidates in national elections? Why has there been movement toward Republicans at the margins over the past few election cycles? More broadly, how do Asian Americans make their vote choices and develop preferences for the political parties at different stages in the process of immigrant incorporation? The chapter also outlines the book’s central argument and the mixed-methods research design. The introduction ends with a chapter-by-chapter overview of the book.

  PublisherDOI

• About the Companion Website

  2025-08-29

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Conclusion and Implications for Asian American Political Incorporation

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2025-08-29

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Chapter 7 draws conclusions based on the findings presented in earlier chapters and considers the implications of the book for the future of American politics. The chapter begins by summarizing the book’s central findings and discussing its implications for understanding Asian American partisan acquisition. It also chronicles recent trends in Asian American vote choice, which point to a weakening of support for the Democratic Party over the past few election cycles. Next, it considers the practical implications of this research as it relates to campaigns and political organizations that intend to mobilize Asian Americans. Then, the chapter discusses the implications of this research for the future of American electoral politics and Asian American political incorporation as the voting-eligible population grows. The chapter also considers the extent to which social transmission offers a compelling explanation for political socialization among other predominantly immigrant and nonimmigrant groups. The chapter ends by considering the role Asian American voters played in recent elections at the local and national levels.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Tali Mendelberg

  Princeton University

  6 shared

• Vittorio Mérola

  Durham University

  4 shared

• Adam Thal

  Yale University

  4 shared

• Anne McDonough

  Yale University

  2 shared

• Nathan Chan

  Loyola Marymount University

  1 shared

• Michael Jones‐Correa

  University of Pennsylvania

  1 shared

• Stephanie Chan

  Lafayette College

  1 shared

• Chinbo Chong

  Indiana University

  1 shared

Education

• PhD, Politics

  Princeton University

  2019

Awards & honors

• REP Section Best Paper Award 2021
• Lucius Barker Award 2024