Staff profile

Nick joined Durham University in 2010 and became Professor of Politics in 2018. He completed his PhD in Political Science at the London School of Economics in 2010. He is a founding member of the Centre for Institutions and Political Behaviour at Durham University, 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. 

Nick researches public opinion, electoral behaviour and democratic representation. His 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. His recent research on political polarisation of public opinion on the particular issue of climate change is award-winning. Nick often uses quantitative and experimental methods to study these topics, and some of his research focuses on improving the measurement of public opinion. 

Nick's 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.

Nick welcomes enquiries regarding PhD supervision in the areas of British and comparative public opinion and electoral politics.

Current and past research grants:

• Issue Opinion and Democratic Politics in Britain (£45,048 Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship).

• Causes and Consequences of Electoral Violence: Evidence from England and Wales 1832-1914 (£504,077 from the ESRC/AHRC). Patrick Kuhn (PI), Gidon Cohen and Nick Vivyan.

• Reducing Turnout Misreporting Through Contextualization (£10,000.00 from the British Academy). Nick Vivyan (PI) and Patrick Kuhn.

• What Do Voters Want From their Parliamentary Representatives?(€106,000 from Austrian National Bank). Markus Wagner (PI) and Nick Vivyan.

• Estimating Constituency Opinion in Britain (£115,433 from the ESRC). Nick Vivyan (PI) and Chris Hanretty.

• Voter Approval of the Activities of Members of Parliament (£9,900 from The British Academy). Nick Vivyan (PI) and Markus Wagner.

• Public opinion and elections
• British politics
• Comparative politics
• Quantitative methods

Authored book

• Idiosyncratic Issue Opinion and Political Choice
  
  Vivyan, N., Lauderdale, B. E., & Hanretty, C. (2026). Idiosyncratic Issue Opinion and Political Choice. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198955245.001.0001

Chapter in book

• Attention-seeking constituents? How voters want MPs to spend their time.
  
  Vivyan, N. (2014). Attention-seeking constituents? How voters want MPs to spend their time. In P. Cowley & R. Ford (Eds.), Sex, Lies & the Ballot Box: 50 things you need to know about British elections. Biteback Publishing.

Journal Article

• Political Polarization of Climate Policy-Relevant Attitudes: Longitudinal Evidence from Britain
  
  Cohen, G., & Vivyan, N. (in press). Political Polarization of Climate Policy-Relevant Attitudes: Longitudinal Evidence from Britain. West European Politics.
• When Legislators Do Not Differentiate: A Field Experiment on British MPs’ Responses to Constituent Policy Queries
  
  Bischof, D., Cheng-Matsuno, V., Cohen, G., Cohen, S., Foos, F., Kuhn, P., Nanou, K., Visalvanich, N., & Vivyan, N. (2026). When Legislators Do Not Differentiate: A Field Experiment on British MPs’ Responses to Constituent Policy Queries. British Journal of Political Science, 56. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123426101598
• Electoral Violence in England and Wales, 1832–1914
  
  Blaxill, L., Cohen, G., Hutchison, G., Kuhn, P. M., & Vivyan, N. (2025). Electoral Violence in England and Wales, 1832–1914. Past & Present, 267(1), 154–210. https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtae017
• Long-Run Trends in Partisan Polarization of Climate Policy-Relevant Attitudes Across Countries
  
  Caldwell, D., Cohen, G., & Vivyan, N. (2025). Long-Run Trends in Partisan Polarization of Climate Policy-Relevant Attitudes Across Countries. Environmental Politics, 34(5), 767-792. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2024.2403957
• The Misreporting Trade-off Between List Experiments and Direct Questions in Practice: Partition Validation Evidence from Two Countries
  
  Kuhn, P. M., & Vivyan, N. (2022). The Misreporting Trade-off Between List Experiments and Direct Questions in Practice: Partition Validation Evidence from Two Countries. Political Analysis, 30(3), 381-402. https://doi.org/10.1017/pan.2021.10
• Advantages, Challenges and Limitations of Audit Experiments with Constituents
  
  Bischof, D., Cohen, G., Cohen, S., Foos, F., Kuhn, P. M., Nanou, K., Visalvanich, N., & Vivyan, N. (2022). Advantages, Challenges and Limitations of Audit Experiments with Constituents. Political Studies Review, 20(2), 192-200. https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211037865
• Psychological Threat and Turnout Misreporting
  
  Kuhn, P. M., Mellish, S., & Vivyan, N. (2021). Psychological Threat and Turnout Misreporting. Electoral Studies, 70, Article 102276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102276
• Costly signals: Voter responses to parliamentary dissent in Austria, Britain and Germany
  
  Glinitzer, K., Vivyan, N., & Wagner, M. (2020). Costly signals: Voter responses to parliamentary dissent in Austria, Britain and Germany. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 45(4), 645-678. https://doi.org/10.1111/lsq.12274
• A Choice-Based Measure of Issue Importance in the Electorate
  
  Hanretty, C., Lauderdale, B. E., & Vivyan, N. (2020). A Choice-Based Measure of Issue Importance in the Electorate. American Journal of Political Science, 64(3), 519-535. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12470
• Do Humble Beginnings Help? How Politician Class Roots Shape Voter Evaluations
  
  Vivyan, N., Wagner, M., Glinitzer, K., & Moritz-Eberl, J. (2020). Do Humble Beginnings Help? How Politician Class Roots Shape Voter Evaluations. Electoral Studies, 63, Article 102093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2019.102093
• Who Votes More Strategically?
  
  Eggers, A. C., & Vivyan, N. (2020). Who Votes More Strategically? American Political Science Review, 114(2), 470-485. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055419000820
• Why friends and neighbors? Explaining the electoral appeal of local roots
  
  Campbell, R., Cowley, P., Vivyan, N., & Wagner, M. (2019). Why friends and neighbors? Explaining the electoral appeal of local roots. Journal of Politics, 81(3), 937-951. https://doi.org/10.1086/703131
• Legislator dissent as a valence signal
  
  Campbell, R., Cowley, P., Vivyan, N., & Markus, W. (2019). Legislator dissent as a valence signal. British Journal of Political Science, 49(1), 105-128. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123416000223
• Comparing Strategies for Estimating Constituency Opinion from National Survey Samples
  
  Hanretty, C., Lauderdale, B. E., & Vivyan, N. (2018). Comparing Strategies for Estimating Constituency Opinion from National Survey Samples. Political Science Research and Methods, 6(3), 571-591. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2015.79
• Reducing Turnout Misreporting in Online Surveys
  
  Kuhn, P. M., & Vivyan, N. (2018). Reducing Turnout Misreporting in Online Surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly, 82(2), 300-321. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfy017
• Decomposing Public Opinion Variation into Ideology, Idiosyncrasy, and Instability
  
  Lauderdale, B. E., Hanretty, C., & Vivyan, N. (2018). Decomposing Public Opinion Variation into Ideology, Idiosyncrasy, and Instability. Journal of Politics, 80(2), 707-712. https://doi.org/10.1086/695673
• Corruption, accountability, and gender: Do female politicians face higher standards in public life?
  
  Eggers, A. C., Vivyan, N., & Wagner, M. (2018). Corruption, accountability, and gender: Do female politicians face higher standards in public life? Journal of Politics, 80(1), 321-326. https://doi.org/10.1086/694649
• Dyadic representation in a Westminster system
  
  Hanretty, C., Lauderdale, B. E., & Vivyan, N. (2017). Dyadic representation in a Westminster system. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 42(2), 235-267. https://doi.org/10.1111/lsq.12148
• Combining national and constituency polling for forecasting
  
  Hanretty, C., Lauderdale, B. E., & Vivyan, N. (2016). Combining national and constituency polling for forecasting. Electoral Studies, 41, 239-243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2015.11.019
• House or Home? Constituent preferences over legislator effort allocation
  
  Vivyan, N., & Wagner, M. (2016). House or Home? Constituent preferences over legislator effort allocation. European Journal of Political Research, 55(1), 81-99. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12119
• What do voters want from their local MP?
  
  Vivyan, N., & Wagner, M. (2015). What do voters want from their local MP? Political Quarterly, 86(1), 33-40. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.12128
• Partisan bias in opinion formation on episodes of political controversy: evidence from Great Britain
  
  Wagner, M., Tarlov, J., & Vivyan, N. (2014). Partisan bias in opinion formation on episodes of political controversy: evidence from Great Britain. Political Studies, 62(1), 136-158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2012.01002.x
• Representative misconduct, voter perceptions and accountability: Evidence from the 2009 House of Commons expenses scandal
  
  Vivyan, N., Wagner, M., & Tarlov, J. (2012). Representative misconduct, voter perceptions and accountability: Evidence from the 2009 House of Commons expenses scandal. Electoral Studies, 31(4), 750-763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2012.06.010
• Do voters reward rebellion? The electoral accountability of MPs in Britain
  
  Vivyan, N., & Wagner, M. (2012). Do voters reward rebellion? The electoral accountability of MPs in Britain. European Journal of Political Research, 51(2), 235-264. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2011.01998.x
• From doves to hawks: A spatial analysis of voting in the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England
  
  Hix, S., Høyland, B., & Vivyan, N. (2010). From doves to hawks: A spatial analysis of voting in the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. European Journal of Political Research, 49(6), 731-758. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2010.01916.x