Ping Xu

Biography

Dr. Ping Xu is Professor and Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of Rhode Island (URI), where she previously served for four years as Graduate Director. She is currently the Editor of China Policy Journal, and the U.S. Regional Editor of Policy & Internet. She has served as President, Division Chair, and Governing Council member of the Public Policy Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA), as well as an Executive Council member for APSA’s Political Communication Section.

Dr. Xu joined the Political Science Department at URI in the fall of 2012. She is interested in the following interrelated research programs: (1) how technology and new media shape public opinion, public policy, and governance, (2) the effects of political elites and media on public opinion toward international issues, and (3) globalization’s impact on domestic political and policy outcomes. Her research work has appeared in journals like American Journal of Political Science, Policy Studies Journal, The China Quarterly, Computers in Human Behavior, New Media & Society, Telematics and Informatics, Politics &Internet, American Politics Research, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, Politics & Policy, Social Science Quarterly, and in edited books like Oxford Handbook of State and Local Politics. Professor Xu has recently taught Introduction to Political Science Research, International Political Economy, International Migration, Chinese Politics, and Controversies in Political Science.

Personal Website

Research

Political economy, public policy, political communication, public opinion, political behavior, and Chinese politics

Education

  • Ph.D., Political Science, Louisiana State University
  • M.Sc., Public Administration (with Honors), Leiden University (The Netherlands)
  • B.Sc., Business Administration (with Distinction), Wuhan University (China)

Selected Publications

Sirui Li, Ping Xu and Yue Guo. 2026. “Location, Location, Reaction: How Mandatory IP Disclosure Silences Critics and Sparks Backlash,” Policy & Internet. https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.70034

Shuai Cao, Ping Xu, Hongtao Yi and Ling Zhu. 2026. “From Germination to Transformation: Policy Studies in China Over the Past Half-Century (1970s–2020s)” Policy Studies Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.70097

Ping Xu, James Garand, Belinda Davis, and Michael Henderson. 2025. “The Politics of (Mis)perception: Understanding Americans’ Beliefs About Immigrant Welfare Usage,” Social Science Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.70110

Ping Xu, Belinda Davis, and James Garand. 2025. “ ‘Immigrationalization’ of the Welfare State: Contextual Influences on Welfare Politics in the United States,” Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. 10, 866-890 

Ping Xu, Nina Kussau, Ashlea Rundlett, Brendan Skip Mark, Brian Krueger, and Caroline Fowler. 2025. “Political Elites and Attitudes toward International Organizations in the Trump Era,” Social Science Quarterly, 106 (3), e70012. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.70012

Ping Xu, Brian Krueger, Fan Liang, Mingxin Zhang, Marc Hutchison, and Mingzhi Chang. 2025. “Media framing and public support for China’s social credit system: An experimental study,” New Media & Society, 27(2), 995-1013 https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231187823

Dmitriy Nurullayev, Ping Xu, and James Garand. 2024. “COVID-19, Trump, and Americans’ Attitudes Toward U.S. Trade Practices with China,” Social Science Quarterly,  105(7), 2236-2251. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13467

Ceren Keser, James Garand, Ping Xu and Joseph Essig. 2024. “Partisanship, Trump Favorability, and Changes in Support for Trade,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, 54(1), 46-64.

Ping Xu and Ling Zhu. 2022. “Immigration, Policy Exclusion, and State-Level Inequality in TANF Usage,” Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 7(3): 406-432.

Ping Xu, Kristin Johnson and Ashlea Rundlett. 2022. “E-Participation in Contemporary China: A Comparison with Conventional Offline Participation.” Chinese Public Administration Review, 13(3): 150-161.

Mingmin Zhang, Yinjiao Ye, and Ping Xu. 2021. “An Empirical Test of the Perceived Social Media Values and Usage in China.” Journalism & Communication Review, 74(5): 28-42.

Joseph Essig, Ping Xu, James Garand, and Ceren Keser. 2021. “The ‘Trump’ Effect: Elite Rhetoric and Support for Free Trade in America,” American Politics Research, 49(3): 328-342.

Ping Xu, Yinjiao Ye, Mingxin Zhang. 2018. “Assessing Political Participation on the Internet in Contemporary China,” Chinese Journal of Communication, 11(3): 243-266.

James C. Garand, Ping Xu and Belinda Davis. 2017. “Immigration Attitudes and Support for the Welfare State in the American Mass Public,” American Journal of Political Science, 61(1), pp. 649-667.

Ping Xu. 2017. “Compensation or Retrenchment? The Paradox of Immigration and Public Welfare Spending in the American States,” State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 17(1), pp. 76-104.

Marc L. Hutchison and Ping Xu. 2017. “Trust in China? The Impact of Development, Inequality, and Openness on Political Trust across China’s Provinces, 2001-2012,” Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 2(2), pp. 176-195.

Ping Xu, James C. Garand and Ling Zhu. 2016. “Imported Inequality? Immigration and Income Inequality in the American States,” State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 16(2), pp. 147-171.

Ping Xu and Brian Krueger. 2015. “Trade Exposure and the Polarization of Government Spending in the American States”, American Politics Research, 43(5), pp. 793-820.

Ling Zhu and Ping Xu. 2015. “Imported Inequality: The Newcomers, State Policy, and Health Disparity in the United States,” Policy Studies Journal, 43(4), 456-483.