Curtis BramSurvey methods and American politics

Curriculum vitae

October 2026

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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). 1 of 5
[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. 2 of 5
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) 3 of 5
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) 4 of 5
(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) 5 of 5