Welcome to David Thunder's website! Dr. David Thunder, hailing from Dublin, Ireland, is a political philosopher and a permanent Research Fellow at the University of Navarra’s Institute for Culture and Society in Pamplona, Spain. His research has been supported by two major grants awarded by the Spanish government in recognition of an outstanding research career: a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (2017-2021) and an I3 research consolidation grant (2022-24). David earned his BA and MA in philosophy at University College Dublin, and his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Notre Dame. He has held several research and teaching positions, including Visiting Assistant Professor in Political Theory at Bucknell University (2006-07) and Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Princeton University’s James Madison Program (2008-09), before joining the University of Navarra. 

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David's research, which aims to develop an ethically rich and psychologically plausible theory of politics and social organisation, exposes the limitations of top-down, Statist models of order and the advantages of bottom-up, community-based approaches to the governance of social life. His working hypothesis is that a federated political and social order granting generous leeway for self-regulation by local and municipal associations and communities, can provide a promising framework for solving social problems and living dignified, flourishing human lives.

 

David’s academic writings include The Polycentric Republic: A Theory of Civil Order for Free and Diverse Societies (forthcoming with Routledge in 2024), Citizenship and the Pursuit of the Worthy Life (Cambridge University Press, 2014), The Ethics of Citizenship in the 21st Century (edited volume, Springer, 2017), and numerous articles in leading academic journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Political Theory, and Journal of Business Ethics. He is also co-editor (with Pablo Paniagua) of Polycentric Governance and the Good Society (Lexington Books, 2024).

 

David's passion for the study of freedom goes hand in hand with a passion for promoting a deeper understanding of freedom and its preconditions beyond the "ivory tower." He has given many talks to non-academic audiences, provided advice to elected politicians and political movements, published dozens of op eds on current affairs issues in newspapers such as The Irish Times and El Mundo and digital media platforms such as The Conversation, Mercatornet and the Clingendael Spectator, and conducted dozens of media interviews, including guest appearances on Newstalk (an Irish radio station), TV3's Tonight Show (in Ireland), and GB News. Last but not least, David runs a blog about issues affecting freedom in the West, called The Freedom Blog.