Overview
EMERSON M. S. NIOU (Ph.D., U. of Texas at Austin, 1987) is a Professor of Political Science at Duke University. He co-authors two books: (1) The Balance of Power, Cambridge University Press, 1989; (2) Strategy and Politics: An Introduction to Game Theory, Rutledge, 2015. His recent publications include: (1) “Measuring Preferences for Divided Government: Some Americans Want Divided Government and Vote to Create It.” with Dean Lacy, Philip Paolino, and Robert A. Rein, Political Behavior, December:1-25, 2017; (2) “External Threat, Internal Rivalry, and Alliance Formation” with Sean Zeigler, Journal of Politics, 81(2):571-584, April 2019; (3) “Measuring ‘Closeness’ in 3-Candidate Elections: Methodology and an Application to Strategic Voting” with Daniel Kselman and Austin Wang, Electoral Studies, 68 (December):1-11, 2020; and “Entente Versus Alliance: When Should States Be Friends but not Allies?” with Sean Zeigler, Defence and Peace Economics, May 2023.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Entente versus Alliance: When Should States Be Friends but Not Allies?
Journal Article Defence and Peace Economics · January 1, 2024 When faced with a common threat, states have various alignment choices. Formal alliances offer explicit military obligations of support. Others, such as the Triple Entente that preceded World War I, are more ambiguous understandings. These entente-like ali ... Full text Open Access CiteMeasuring ‘closeness’ in 3-candidate elections: Methodology and an application to strategic voting
Journal Article Electoral Studies · December 1, 2020 Past research suggests that voter behavior is influenced by perceptions of electoral competitiveness. For example, when an election is perceived to be close, voters will be more likely to turnout and/or cast strategic votes for their second-most preferred ... Full text Open Access CiteExternal threat, internal rivalry, and alliance formation
Journal Article Journal of Politics · April 1, 2019 History reveals enemies often ally to confront a common threat. In such competitive coalitions actors must balance the simultaneous risk of distrust of their ally against external danger. We model this interactive relationship and generate several novel ou ... Full text Open Access CiteRecent Grants
Enhancement of Taiwan Studies in the United States
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by College of William and Mary · 2014 - 2014Taiwanese Public Opinion and Security Stability in the Taiwan Strait
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation · 2006 - 2007Conference on Cross-Strait Issues: Conflicting or Complementary approaches (October 2002)
ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation · 2002 - 2003View All Grants