iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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David Darmofal @daviddarmofal.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Thrilled that we have @hahrie.bsky.social visiting our campus next week! Thanks to my colleague, @samuel-bagg.bsky.social & the USC Humanities Collaborative for bringing her to campus & to All Good Books for their involvement with her visit as well. Really looking forward to this!

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Craig Harrington @craigipedia.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

As @brianbeutler.bsky.social argued, the next Democratic president should send bulldozers to the Supreme Court and tell them they have 15 minutes to decide if the Unitary Executive Theory is real.

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Friends don't let friends give assignments that are AI-cheatable

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Sarah Kendzior @sarahkendzior.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

We're near the ten-year anniversary of this interview, which was viewed as wildly controversial at the time. It led to hit pieces on me from liberal outlets like The New Republic as well as death threats. Now it's seen as conventional wisdom -- but it always was!

Sarah Kendzior making obvious points about authoritarian kleptocracy in the US under Trump on MSNBC in Nov 2016

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Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 19/07/2026

"I had only one reaction to the panelists and their cheerleaders: these gutless losers will never win. If they have their way, we will, at best, remain in this crisis for a generation longer, and at worst we will simply lose the war." www.liberalcurrents.com/tit-for-tat-...

liberalcurrents.com

Tit For Tat Does Not Work If You Do Not Retaliate Against Defectors

Thoughts from ISMA's Liberalism in the 21st Century conference.

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Luke Diaz @lukediaz.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

We need Broken Windows theory but just for white collar crime.

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Thanks to @cbwlezien.bsky.social for writing this comprehensive, balanced, well-organized survey of contemporary research on policy responsiveness, and to Josh Ryan for inviting me to write a response, which you can find here: doi.org/10.1017/S014...

doi.org

What policy responsiveness conceals | Journal of Public Policy | Cambridge Core

What policy responsiveness conceals - Volume 46 Issue 2

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Apparently I got tenure three weeks ago, but nobody bothered to tell me until today. Anyway, the point is: I have tenure! I am keenly aware of what a rare privilege that is these days. I'll do my best to use it well.

Note from university of south carolina stating that I have received tenure and promotion to associate professor

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Calling all early career scholars with an interest in democratic theory, public policy, corruption, etc...! Initial deadline this week, for aspirational start date this Fall, but both are flexible given the tight turnaround.

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Come work on an exciting new project with me -- soft deadline next Friday!

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Of interest to folks in #poltheory and adjacent scholarly communities, especially #LPE (👀@lpeproject.bsky.social, @lpeblog.bsky.social, @a-lpe.bsky.social). Tight turnaround for due date and start date but those are aspirational: late applications will likely be read and start date is negotiable!

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

🚨Job Posting🚨 I've received funding for a project on "Rethinking the Anti-Corruption Toolkit" and am hiring a 2-year postdoc (political theory or related) to help. Ideally starting this fall, but can be flexible. For best consideration apply by the end of next week! apply.interfolio.com/188955

apply.interfolio.com

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

@samuel-bagg.bsky.social is aiming to hire a postdoc to work on an anti-corruption project we've collaborated on. The position is through Yale but would involve relocating to South Carolina. It's for two years & includes no teaching. There's a soft deadline July 10th: apply.interfolio.com/188955

apply.interfolio.com

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

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Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Very cool post-doc opportunity to work with @samuel-bagg.bsky.social on anti-corruption institutional design. Tight deadline! @lpeproject.bsky.social @lpeblog.bsky.social #lawsky apply.interfolio.com/188955

apply.interfolio.com

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

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post malone ergo propter malone @proptermalone.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

i think boarding school teenage masculinity is a part of masculinity but not of manhood. we have to get away from the concept of the opposite of "man" being "woman." the opposite of "man" is "boy"

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Don’t miss EB presenting this incredible film she helped to create! (As one of two editors on a very small four-person team)

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Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 03/06/2026

really cannot be emphasized enough that every democratic policy goal must run through breaking the power of this corrupt court

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Fascism is distinctively modern because it presupposes that traditionalist society is unavailable. It begins from a diagnosis of society as already fragmented by the forces of modernity & posits a post-traditionalist basis of organic unity in new fictions of the state, leader, race.

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Dean Baker @deanbaker13.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Anyone concerned about the rich buying campaigns, who is not paying attention to the far-right media takeover, needs to get their brains out of their ass. What people see BETWEEN the campaign ads has more impact than the campaign ads.

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Anat Shenker-Osorio @anatosaurus.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Politics 101: Vote against your opposition, not the people your opposition reviles. You cannot beat your opposition by promoting their views.

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Sam Eyler-Driscoll 🍉🌻🍁 @sameyler.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Incredibly, arguing that your opponent is right makes people support your opponent.

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Niko Bowie @nikobowie.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I’ve been invited to testify on what the House calls “Court Packing: A Threat to SCOTUS’s Legitimacy.” Drawing on research w/ Daphna Renan for our book, Supremacy, Congress has the duty—and all the tools it needs—to protect our Constitution from judicial supremacy. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

United States House Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet
Hearing on "Court Packing; A Threat to the Supreme Court's Legitimacy"
Thursday, May 21, 2026, 10:00 am
Testimony of Nikolas Bowie
Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Chairman Issa, Ranking Member Johnson, Chairman Jordan, Ranking Member Raskin, and Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee:
Thank you for inviting me to testify. My name is Nikolas Bowie. I am the Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where I teach and write about the U.S. Constitution, among other topics. With my colleague Daphna Renan, I have spent the last seven years researching a forthcoming book called Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People (W.W. Norton & Co. September 2026). Our book shows how the Supreme Court acquired the power it now wields, and what Congress can do about it.
I am also the author of a casebook, Federal Constitutional Law (West 2022), which is used to teach law school classes across the country.
You have asked whether "court packing" is "a threat to the Supreme Court's legitimacy." Before we can make sense of that issue, we first need to be on the same page about a more basic question: what is the legitimate role for the Court to play under our Constitution?

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 08/05/2026

yes. change the statute on which this decision turned and redistrict according to the legitimacy conferred by the people of the state

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Utterly unserious, in fact dangerous, way to cover the outright unraveling of democracy

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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

now thats an anecdote with a punch, from Gillian Tett www.ft.com/content/c0ae...

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Update: the number of people confusing "Toussaint L'Ouverture" and "Alexis de Tocqueville" on this exam is... astounding. (It is an open-book exam, and a full list of authors / texts was also included on the back of the exam sheet)

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Sad to think those of you who don't grade un-spellchecked final exams might never encounter Linen's defense of a revolutionary vanguard; Hannah Ardent on the blaneity of evil; fellow girlboss Aimee Cesaire in her analysis of the boomergang effect...

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

France’s mandated profit-sharing distributes excess profits to workers. This paper shows that the policy raises the labor share and reduces the profit share, with little to no effect on investment, productivity, etc academic.oup.com/qje/advance-...

$JOURNAL ARTICLE ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT The Effects of Mandatory Profit-Sharing on Workers and Firms: Evidence from France Get access > Elio Nimier-David X, David Sraer X, David Thesmar X The Quarterly Journal of Economics, qjag022, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjag022 Published: 24 April 2026 66 Cite • Permissions * Share v Abstract Since 1967, all French firms with more than 100 employees have been required to share a fraction of their excess profits with their employees. Through this scheme, firms with excess profits distribute, on average, 10.5% of their pre-tax income to workers. In 1990, the eligibility threshold was reduced to 50 employees. We exploit this regulatory change to identify the effects of mandated profit-sharing on firms and their employees. The cost of mandated profit-sharing for firms is evident in the significant bunching at the 100-employee threshold observed prior to the reform, which completely disappears post-reform. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that, at the firm level, mandated profit-sharing (a) increases the labor share by 1.8 percentage points, (b) reduces the profit share by 1.4 percentage points, and (c) has small to non-existent effects on investment and productivity. At the employee level, mandated profit-sharing increases lower-skilled workers' total compensation and leaves high-skilled workers' total compensation unchanged. Overall, mandated profit-sharing redistributes excess profits to lower-skilled workers in the firm without generating significant distortions or productivity effects.$

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

If you like arguments about why (and how) liberals should take wealth inequality seriously, drawing on Acemoglu and Robinson, Buchanan, Lindsey and Teles, Smith, etc..., boy have I got a book (chapter) for you... academic.oup.com/book/55806/c...

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Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

New podcast with postdoc alum @samuel-bagg.bsky.social Samuel Bagg, now Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of South Carolina: "State Capture and the Meaning of Democracy" on the "Virtual Sentiments" podcast with Kristen Collins www.mercatus.org/hayekprogram...

mercatus.org

State Capture and the Meaning of Democracy with Samuel Bagg

On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins speaks with political theorist Samuel Bagg about his recent book

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The LPE Project @lpeproject.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

As Socrates said, "All my haters become my waiters when I sit down at the table of success."

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

The reviews are in for my experiment using a printed course pack this semester. The students absolutely LOVED them.

Chart showing student responses to a survey question: "how would you rate your overall experience using a printed Course Pack instead of online readings?" The lowest ranking (very negative) has the smallest bar, consisting of 1 student (or 2% of the total, given 49 responses). The 2 ranking received 2 responses, or 4% of the total. The 3 ranking received 5 responses, or 10% of the total. The 4 ranking received 11 responses, or 22% of the total, and the 5 ranking ("very positive") received by far the most responses: 30, or 61% of the total.

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Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Economics can either enable the slide toward fascism, or defend affordability, dignity, and democracy. I wrote ANTI-FASCIST ECONOMICS with my baby by my side—a constant reminder that the future should be livable for all. Out in October with Random House.

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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Trump is within sight of an under 30% overall approval rating. One of the most important causes right now is to establish a media narrative and popular support behind severe punishments and consequences to our present criminals running things.

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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 15/04/2026

As wealth concentrates, so does power — the power to influence elections, shape policy, tilt markets and define the terms of public debate. Taxing billionaires is not radical. What is radical is allowing a system where extreme wealth exists alongside widespread hardship.

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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Grift, grift, and a bit more grift. How can any voter tolerate this?

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Kristen Collins @kristenrosec.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Today’s latest Virtual Sentiments episode is with @samuel-bagg.bsky.social on his excellent book on how democracy helps us fight state capture. I’ve posted the episode and some updated thoughts talking about the DOW vs Anthropic contract dispute at my Substack open.substack.com/pub/kristenc...

open.substack.com

New Virtual Sentiments: Samuel Bagg on Democracy Against State Capture, plus my thoughts on the DOW vs. Anthropic fight

Today I’m sharing the second episode of this season of Virtual Sentiments, a conversation with political theorist Dr.

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Kristen Collins @kristenrosec.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Thrilled to release this conversation with Sam on his excellent book, Dispersion of Power, on using democracy to guard against state capture. A topic that has only become even more pertinent since we recorded it and is not going away any time soon!

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Grateful to @kristenrosec.bsky.social for a really stimulating conversation on the "Virtual Sentiments" podcast about the past, present, and future of state capture and democracy. www.mercatus.org/hayekprogram...

mercatus.org

State Capture and the Meaning of Democracy with Samuel Bagg

On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins speaks with political theorist Samuel Bagg about his recent book

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uofscpolisci.bsky.social @uofscpolisci.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

The Department of Political Science just got a whole lot better! We are so thrilled to have these wonderful people on board for the coming academic year. 👏 #uofsc #polisci

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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

🧵 Democracy feels like it's in a rough state at the moment across the globe, and we hear various explanations, like polarisation, extremism, disinformation, and loss of trust. But what if those explanations are mainly symptoms and we've been trying to treat them rather than the underlying causes?

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

The New York Times rolling up its sleeves to do the hard work of normalizing the idea that women should not have the right to vote.

NYTimes Headline: The Women Who Believe That Women Should Lose the Right to Vote
Subhead: Adherents to biblical patriarchy support household voting: One household, one vote--the husband's. They say the idea is catching on.

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Samuel Bagg @samuel-bagg.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

capital, for some reason: maybe we'll provide housing for some of the unhoused people in your neighborhood? Democratic elected officials:

Screenshot of news article reading: What is The Woodley?
The Woodley, a two-building, 102-unit complex planned for 2120 Main St., was approved by city boards in 2024 despite pushback from neighbors who feared the complex would house homeless veterans.

Attorney and then-state senator Dick Harpootlian also joined the fight, saying at a city meeting he would “fight (the project) tooth and nail” if it housed homeless veterans.

“These people don’t need homeless people living in their neighborhood,” Harpootlian said at a Columbia Design and Development Review Commission meeting in 2024. “My office is two blocks from here. I don’t need more homeless people defecating in my parking lot every morning, which is what is happening right now.”

Screenshot of same article, later on, reading: The Woodley could bring up to 110 new residents downtown, adding to the more than 5,000 planned for various apartment complexes in the city’s center in the next few years.

The complex will rise across Scott Street from the 320-unit 2222 Main View luxury apartments, which broke ground in late 2025.

The developer of 2222 Main View, Commonwealth Properties, has been very communicative with the neighborhood, Wellman said.

“I'm not sure anybody wants apartments in their neighborhood, but these are going to be high-end apartments, probably the nicest in the city, and I have great confidence that it's going to be managed really well, because of how the developer has worked with the neighborhood from the moment he was thinking about this project,” she said.

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