Curtis Bram
Contact
Information
Curtis Bram
Phone: +1 (860) 748 8742
The University of Texas at Dallas
Email: curtis.bram at utdallas.edu
800 W Campbell Rd.
Richardson, TX 75080
Research
Fields
American politics; political behavior; public opinion; political psychology;
democratic institutions; survey and experimental methods
Academic
Position
The University of Texas at Dallas
Assistant Professor, Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, 2023 —
Education
Duke University
Ph.D., Political Science, 2023
M.A., Political Science, 2020
The University of Chicago
M.A. (with honors), International Relations, 2016
Tulane University
B.A. (cum laude), Economics and Political Science, 2014
Revise and
Resubmits
Bram, C. The Limits of the Asymmetrical President-in-Power Effect.
Revised and resubmitted, American Political Science Review.
Bram, C. The Out-Group Penalty in Rights Judgments: Evidence from
Public Respondents and Elected Officials. Revised and resubmitted, Po-
litical Behavior.
Bram, C., and Lee, N. U.S. local officials rate polarization as worse for
the country than for their communities. Revised and resubmitted, PNAS
Nexus.
Bram, C. Assistance Without Rule: Democracy After Human Superior-
ity. Revised and resubmitted, Philosophy & Technology.
Monograph
Bram, C. Elitism versus Populism: Experiments on the Dual Threat to
American Democracy. Cambridge University Press, Elements in Experi-
mental Political Science series (2025).
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[email protected]Bram, C. Elitism versus Populism: Experiments on the Dual Threat toAmerican Democracy. Cambridge University Press, Elements in Experi-mental Political Science series (2025).Discussed on the Not Another Politics Podcast
Discussed on KERA’s Think
Featured as the 2,000th Cambridge Element
Reviewed by Rafael Jacob in Party Politics (2026).
Refereed
Journal
Articles
Marble, W., Lee, N., and Bram, C. Stepping Up the Political Ladder:
How the Burden of Fundraising Limits Candidate Entry. Political Behav-
ior (2026).
Lee, N., Chen, K., Marble, W., and Bram, C. Voice and Value: How
Elected Officials Evaluate Online and Offline Constituent Feedback. Public
Opinion Quarterly (2025).
Krishnamurthy, A., Bram, C., and Nathan, C. The Punitive Public?
Exploring the Opinion–Election Connection in Criminal Justice Policy.
American Politics Research (2025).
Nathan, C., Krishnamurthy, A., Bram, C., and Todd, J. The Donor
Went Down to Georgia: Out-of-District Donations and Rivalrous Repre-
sentation. Political Behavior (2025).
Todd, J., Bram, C., and Krishnamurthy, A. Do At-Large Elections Re-
duce Black Representation? A New Baseline for County Legislatures. Elec-
toral Studies (2024).
Bram, C. Beyond Partisan Filters: Can Underreported News Reduce
Issue Polarization? PLOS ONE (2024).
Bram, C. Expectations for Policy Change and Participation.
Public
Opinion Quarterly (2023).
Bram, C. The Most Important Election of Our Lifetime: Focalism and
Political Participation. Political Psychology (2023).
Bram, C. A Professional Development Course for Political Science Un-
dergraduates. PS: Political Science and Politics (2023).
Bram, C., and Munger, M. Where You Stand Depends on Where You
Live: County Voting on the Texas Secession Referendum. Constitutional
Political Economy (2022).
Bram, C. When a Conspiracy Theory Goes Mainstream, People Feel
More Positive Toward Conspiracy Theorists. Research & Politics (2021).
Book Chapter
Bram, C. Transaction Costs and Authoritarian Institutions: Early Coali-
tion Size and Regime Party-Building. In Political Processes and Political
Order. Rowman & Littlefield / Lexington Books, 2025.
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Not Another Politics PodcastThink2,000th Cambridge ElementReviewed by Rafael Jacob in Party Politics (2026).Marble, W., Lee, N., and Bram, C. Stepping Up the Political Ladder:How the Burden of Fundraising Limits Candidate Entry. Political Behav-ior (2026).Lee, N., Chen, K., Marble, W., and Bram, C. Voice and Value: HowElected Officials Evaluate Online and Offline Constituent Feedback. PublicOpinion Quarterly (2025).Krishnamurthy, A., Bram, C., and Nathan, C. The Punitive Public?Exploring the Opinion–Election Connection in Criminal Justice Policy.American Politics Research (2025).Nathan, C., Krishnamurthy, A., Bram, C., and Todd, J. The DonorWent Down to Georgia: Out-of-District Donations and Rivalrous Repre-sentation. Political Behavior (2025).Todd, J., Bram, C., and Krishnamurthy, A. Do At-Large Elections Re-duce Black Representation? A New Baseline for County Legislatures. Elec-toral Studies (2024).Bram, C. Beyond Partisan Filters: Can Underreported News ReduceIssue Polarization? PLOS ONE (2024).Bram, C. Expectations for Policy Change and Participation.
PublicOpinion Quarterly (2023).Bram, C. The Most Important Election of Our Lifetime: Focalism andPolitical Participation. Political Psychology (2023).Bram, C. A Professional Development Course for Political Science Un-dergraduates. PS: Political Science and Politics (2023).Bram, C., and Munger, M. Where You Stand Depends on Where YouLive: County Voting on the Texas Secession Referendum. ConstitutionalPolitical Economy (2022).Bram, C. When a Conspiracy Theory Goes Mainstream, People FeelMore Positive Toward Conspiracy Theorists. Research & Politics (2021).Book Review
Bram, C. Review of Democratic Elitism: The Founding Myth of Amer-
ican Political Science.
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews
55(2): 171–172 (2026).
Media
Celebrating our 2000th Element: Elitism versus Populism.
Cambridge
Core Blog
Work cited in The Dallas Morning News “Inflation, traffic are among top
concerns for North Texans, early survey results show”
Interviewed for “Trustworthy” documentary on polarization and media
Work cited in MediaPost op-ed “Media Bias Is A Fact Of Life - But Po-
larization Need Not Be”
UFOs exist, and might come from beyond Earth, the U.S. said. Will that
encourage conspiracy theorists? The Washington Post (Monkey Cage)
Teaching
The University of Texas at Dallas
- Political Surveys (Undergraduate, Fall 2025)
- State and Local Government (Spring 2025, Spring 2026, Fall 2026
in progress)
- Survey Research (Graduate, Fall 2023 & Fall 2025)
- Political Behavior (Spring 2024, 2025, and 2026)
- Political Polarization in America (Fall 2024; Fall 2026 in progress)
Duke University (Instructor of Record):
- The Psychology of Political Participation (Fall 2022)
- Professional Development in Political Science (Fall 2018 & 2019,
Spring 2021 & 2022)
Duke University (Teaching Assistant):
- Political Psychology (Fall 2020)
Certificate in College Teaching, Duke University, 2023
Teaching Politics Certificate, Duke University, 2021
Conference
Presentations
BYU Initiative for Peacemaking Conference (2026)
American Political Science Association (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (2023)
NYU C.E.S.S. Conference (2023)
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Bram, C. Review of Democratic Elitism: The Founding Myth of Amer-ican Political Science.
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews55(2): 171–172 (2026).Celebrating our 2000th Element: Elitism versus Populism.“Inflation, traffic are among topconcerns for North Texans, early survey results show”“Trustworthy”“Media Bias Is A Fact Of Life - But Po-larization Need Not Be”UFOs exist, and might come from beyond Earth, the U.S. said. Will thatencourage conspiracy theorists?Online News Association (2022) (Audio recording)
Harvard Experiments Conference (2021)
Midwest Political Science Association (2021, 2024)
Southern Political Science Association (2019, 2020)
Research
Support
Mercatus Center Research Grant, 2026 ($6,000)
Pew Research Center Global Religious Futures Research Agreement, 2026
($3,000)
Institute for Humane Studies Research Grant, 2026 ($2,400)
Hayek Fund Grant, Institute for Humane Studies, 2024 ($7,000)
UTD Economic, Political and Policy Sciences Faculty Research Enhance-
ment Grant, 2023 ($10,000)
J. Peter Euben Research Grant, Worldview Lab at Duke University, 2022
($6,000)
Publication Accelerator, Institute for Humane Studies, 2022 ($5,000)
Research Grant, Worldview Lab at Duke University, 2022 ($1,000)
Research Grant, Hayek Fund at the Institute for Humane Studies, 2021
($2,000)
Institutions and Political Economy Research Grant, Duke University, 2019
($6,000)
Fellowships
and Awards
Founders Fellow, Philadelphia Society, 2025 ($1,000)
Institute for Humane Studies Symposium, 2024 ($300)
Media, Polarization, and Democracy Research Symposium, Institute for
Humane Studies, 2023 ($300)
Research Fellowship, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, 2022
– 2023 ($7,500)
Frontiers in Polarization Research Symposium, Institute for Humane Stud-
ies, 2022 ($800)
Kenan Institute for Ethics Graduate Research Fellowship, 2021 – 2022
($3,000)
Aleane Webb Dissertation Fellowship, Duke University, 2021 and 2022
($1,000 total)
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(Audio recording)Don Lavoie Fellowship, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, 2020
– 2021 ($1,500)
Adam Smith Fellowship, Mercatus Center at George Mason University,
2019 – 2020 and 2021 – 2022 ($10,000 total)
Academic Exchange, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, 2018
Full M.A. Tuition Scholarship, The University of Chicago, 2015 – 2016
Dissertation
Committees
Ryan Rynbrandt (Ph.D., 2026)
Maria Islam
Maitreyi Pillai
Hanna Shin (Ph.D., 2025)
Jacob Anton (Ph.D., 2025)
Furkan Zengin (Ph.D., 2025)
Rebecca Larsen (Ph.D., 2026)
Katie Sanchez (Ph.D., 2026)
Haruna Minoura (Ph.D., 2026)
Service
UT Dallas Political Science Ph.D. Program Review Committee (2025)
UT Dallas Political Science Program Committee (2024-)
UT Dallas Graduate Admissions Committee (2024-)
University of Texas Archer Program Selection Advisory Committee (2024,
2025, 2026)
UT Dallas Undergraduate Research Competition Judge (2024, 2025)
Faculty Sponsor, UTD Civic Coalition Student Group (2025)
Advisor, William C. Short Quality-of-Life Survey (2023-)
Cengage Next Gen Advisory Board (2026)
Editorial Board Member: Political Psychology
Grant Reviewer: European Research Council (2026)
Reviewer for:
American Political Science Review (3), Public Opinion Quarterly
(3), Political Research Quarterly (3), Political Psychology (8), PLOS
ONE (2), Journal of Political Science Education (1), American Poli-
tics Research (1), Populism and Politics (1), PNAS Nexus (1), PNAS
(1); Cambridge University Press (1); Routledge (1)
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