The voting behavior and politics of Asian Americans is the focus of a study by U Political Science Professor Pei te Lien

A native of Taiwan, Lien specializes in the voting behaviors of Asian Americans.

Lien has relied on newspapers, historical manuscripts and the federal government as the sources of her research.

“One of the biggest obstacles in my research has been data collection,” Lien said. “It takes a special effort to find this information, and I try very hard to collect data.”

With a grant from the National Science Foundation in 2000, Lien studied the voting patterns of six different ethnic Asian groups from five metropolitan areas in five different languages.

“Hopefully we have a better picture of what is going on,” Lien said, referring to voter turnout and participation in the Asian American community.

Among her finds, Lien has discovered that although the number of eligible voters in the Asian American community is lower than it is among Caucasians, “voting rates are very comparable to whites and higher than the rates among Latinos.”

“I find that Asian Americans are not born to be passive, and that they have historically challenged and supported the United States’ system of government,” Lien said

The formation of labor organizations, government petitions, litigation and racial coalitions are all ways in which Asian Americans have contributed and participated in the U.S. system of government, Lien said.