Samuel Bagg

Samuel Bagg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina, affiliated with the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on democratic theory, social inequality, and political power dynamics, aiming to ground democratic practices in realistic analyses of power structures. Bagg’s work has been published in prestigious journals such as the American Political Science Review and Journal of Political Philosophy.

Before joining USC, he held positions at the University of Oxford (Departmental Lecturer in Politics) and McGill University (Postdoctoral Fellow). He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University (2017) and a B.A. in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University.

Bagg’s first book, The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2024), synthesizes his research on democratic theory, emphasizing the need to address elite capture and institutional power dynamics. The book argues for building organized countervailing power to mitigate oligarchic tendencies.

His recent publications explore topics such as anti-oligarchic constitutional design, sortition as anti-corruption, and the role of public engagement in bioethics. Bagg’s work bridges empirical analysis and normative political theory, offering actionable insights for democratic reform.