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Welcome. I am Anthony Anderson, a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of California, San Diego, and a Cota-Robles Graduate Fellow. I specialize in American politics, political behavior, and political communication, investigating how elite rhetoric and unconventional communication strategies shape mass political attitudes and democratic accountability.

My dissertation develops an empirical and theoretical framework to explain how politicians strategically deploy humor to survive political scandals. Methodologically, the project bridges formal modeling, psychometrics, and causal inference. I first estimate humor as a latent psychological trait using Bradley-Terry paired comparison models, construct a formal Bayesian game-theoretic model of rhetoric under scrutiny, and test the resulting observable implications using original survey experiments and observational social media data. By examining when comedic framing disarms public backlash versus when it exacerbates reputational damage, my work uncovers the microfoundations of elite reputation management in polarized environments.

Alongside my research, I am deeply committed to undergraduate education, having served as Instructor of Record for eleven courses across quantitative research methods, American institutions, and electoral behavior. My pedagogical work has been recognized with two departmental Teaching Excellence Awards and centers on active learning, empirical data literacy, and structured civil discourse.