As a scholar of strategic political communication, I examine political communication content, processes, and outcomes in a variety of contexts from a variety of methodological perspectives. These contexts include televised candidate debates, political leadership rhetoric, political advertising, and the political uses of social media. Methods include quantitative surveys and experiments, quantitative content analysis, rhetorical criticism, and qualitative thematic analysis.
For example, my most recent publications were a qualitative thematic analysis of political advertising and social media messaging from interest groups in a referendum campaign (Quick & Bramlett, 2024) and a rhetorical analysis of U.S. Senate candidate arguments about democracy and elections in televised campaign debates from the 2022 midterms (Bramlett, Reed, & McKinney, 2024).
My dissertation research reflects my primary methodological training in quantitative survey research, inferential statistics, and content analysis, with two journal articles that were published. One analyzes changes in normative political attitudes after viewing a debate with a pre-debate and post-debate survey (Bramlett, 2021a). The other incorporates a political marketing design to analyze memory-based candidate brand associations from viewers of televised debates (Bramlett, 2021b). I analyzed partisan differences in positive and negative candidate brand associations, their influence on candidate evaluations, and the political brand element content of associations.
As of June 2024, I have authored or co-authored 16 peer-reviewed journal articles, 6 edited book chapters, 5 edited book reviews, and 24 competitive conference papers.
For example, my most recent publications were a qualitative thematic analysis of political advertising and social media messaging from interest groups in a referendum campaign (Quick & Bramlett, 2024) and a rhetorical analysis of U.S. Senate candidate arguments about democracy and elections in televised campaign debates from the 2022 midterms (Bramlett, Reed, & McKinney, 2024).
My dissertation research reflects my primary methodological training in quantitative survey research, inferential statistics, and content analysis, with two journal articles that were published. One analyzes changes in normative political attitudes after viewing a debate with a pre-debate and post-debate survey (Bramlett, 2021a). The other incorporates a political marketing design to analyze memory-based candidate brand associations from viewers of televised debates (Bramlett, 2021b). I analyzed partisan differences in positive and negative candidate brand associations, their influence on candidate evaluations, and the political brand element content of associations.
As of June 2024, I have authored or co-authored 16 peer-reviewed journal articles, 6 edited book chapters, 5 edited book reviews, and 24 competitive conference papers.
Curriculum Vitae
Bramlett CV April 2024 |
Journal articles
Quick, M., & Bramlett, J. C. (2024). Post-Roe political communication: Examining activist campaign strategies in the 2022 Kansas abortion referendum. Western Journal of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2024.2355962
Bramlett, J. C., Reed, J. L., & McKinney, M. S. (2024). The rhetoric of democracy in United States Senate campaign debates. Communication and Democracy, 58(1), 70-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/27671127.2024.2311936
Jennings, F. J., Bramlett, J. C., Turner, K., & Figueroa, B. (2024). How partisan social identity shapes evaluations of candidate brand elements on campaign websites. Communication Quarterly, 72(1), 79-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2023.2291195
Paul, W. B., Reed, J. L., & Bramlett, J. C. (2024). Mr. Flake gets out of Washington: The jeremiadic martyrdom of Jeff Flake. Western Journal of Communication, 88(1), 240-258. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2023.2174383
Jennings, F. J., Bouchillon, B., Bramlett, J. C., Eubanks, A. D., Stewart, P. A., & Miller, J. M. (2023). Visual overload: The influence of broadcast social media visuals on televised debate viewing outcomes. Journal of Visual Political Communication, 10(2), 151-172. https://doi.org/10.1386/jvpc_00029_1
Reed, J. L., & Bramlett, J. C. (2023). Personal identity and collective resilience: Sadiq Khan’s restorative rhetoric in response to terrorism. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 31(4), 281-296. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2022.2052071
Bramlett, J. C. (2021). Battles for branding: a political marketing approach to studying televised candidate debates. Communication Quarterly, 69(3), 280-300. https://doi.org/10.1080.01463373.2021.1944889
Jennings, F. J., Bramlett, J. C., Kenski, K., & Villanueva, I. I. (2021). Presidential debate learning as a gateway to opinion articulation, communication intentions, and information seeking. Argumentation and Advocacy, 57(3-4), 236-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511431.2021.1949543
Bramlett, J. C. (2021). Exploring the normative and persuasive effects of televised U.S. Senate debates. Argumentation and Advocacy, 57(1), 37-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511431.2021.1894393
Boman, C. D., Valiavska, A., Bramlett, J. C., & Cameron, G. T. (2021). Exploring the U.S. Coast Guard’s stance agility on Twitter during Hurricane Harvey. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 29(1), 47-53. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12307
Jennings, F. J., Bramlett, J. C., McKinney, M. S., & Hardy, M. M. (2020). Tweeting along partisan lines: Identity-motivated elaboration and presidential debates. Social Media + Society, 6(4), 1-12. http://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120965518
Jennings, F. J., Warner, B. R., McKinney, M. S., Kearney, C. C., Funk, M. E., & Bramlett, J. C. (2020). Learning from presidential debates: Who learns the most and why? Communication Studies, 71(5), 896-910. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2020.1807377
Warner, B. R., McKinney, M. S., Bramlett, J. C., Jennings, F. J., & Funk, M. E. (2020). Reconsidering partisanship as a constraint on the persuasive effects of debates. Communication Monographs, 87(2), 137-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2019.1641731
Warner, B. R., Bramlett, J. C., Hoeun, S., Manik, D. I., & Bolton, J. P. (2018). Presidential primary debates compared: Timing of debate and size of candidate field as moderators of debate effects. Argumentation and Advocacy, 54(1-2), 122-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/00028533.2018.1446868
Warner, B. R., Jennings, F. J., Bramlett, J.C., Coker, C. R., Reed, J. L., Bolton, J. P. (2018). A multi-media analysis of persuasion in the 2016 presidential election: Comparing the unique and complementary effects of political comedy and political advertising. Mass Communication and Society, 21(6), 720-741. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2018.1472283
Jennings, F., Bramlett, J.C., & Warner, B. R. (2018). Comedic cognition: The impact of elaboration on political comedy effects. Western Journal of Communication, 83(3), 365-382. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2018.1541476