I am a political scientist based at the School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University. There I am a Professor of Politics, as well as a founding member of the Centre for Institutions and Political Behaviour. I have been based at Durham since graduating from the PhD Political Science programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2010. I am Co-Convenor of the Elections, Public Opinion and Parties specialist group of the Political Studies Association, and previously served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Electoral Studies. 

I research public opinion, electoral behaviour and democratic representation. My recent co-authored book, Idiosyncratic Issue Opinion and Political Choice (Oxford University Press), examines the nature of voters' views on policy issues and how those views shape political choices. My recent research on political polarisation of public opinion on the particular issue of climate change includes award-winning articles. I often uses quantitative and experimental methods to study these topics, and some of his research focuses on improving the measurement of public opinion. 

My research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Political Analysis, British Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics and Past & Present, and has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust.

At Durham I teach undergraduate and postgraduate modules on a variety of topics, including British politics, electoral politics, legislative politics and quantitative methods. 

I am an experienced PhD supervisor and welcome enquiries from students interested in PhD studies focused on the areas of public opinion, electoral behaviour and legislative politics. 

On this site you'll find some further information on my research and teaching. If you want to contact me, my email is nick.vivyan@durham.ac.uk