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 currently Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Electoral Studies. 

I research public opinion, representation and accountability, often in the British context but also across different countries. I examine what voters want from their political representatives and why, as well as the extent to which elections allow voters to get what they want. I often use quantitative and experimental methods to study these topics, and some of my research focuses more specifically on improving the measurement and understanding of public opinion. My co-authored monograph, Idiosyncratic Issue Opinion and Political Choice (with Ben Lauderdale and Chris Hanretty) is forthcoming with Oxford University Press. My research has also 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, Electoral Studies 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.

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