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Resumé

David Thunder

Political Philosophy Researcher & Lecturer
Institute for Culture and Society
University of Navarra
Pamplona, Spain

Education

2000-2006

MA & Ph.D in Political Science

1997-1998

MA in Philosophy

1993-1997

BA in French and Philosophy

University of Notre Dame

University College Dublin

University College Dublin

Academic Positions

Research Fellow

2012-2024

2011-2012

Visiting Assistant Professor

2009-2011

Visiting Assistant Professor

2008-2009

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

2007-2008

Junior Visiting Fellow

2006-2007

Visiting Assistant Professor

University of Navarra - Institute for Culture and Society

Villanova University - Department of Political Science 

Villanova University - Matthew J Ryan Center

Princeton University - James Madison Program, Dept of Politics

Witherspoon Institute, Princeton

Bucknell University - Department of Political Science

Skills & Experiences

Leadership & Project Management

Critical and Creative Thinking

Academic Writing and Publishing

Writing for popular audiences

Public Speaking

Conducting Media Interviews

Political Consulting

4 Languages

Video Editing (Adobe Premiere Pro)

Coordinated two academic edited volumes; served as Principal Investigator of a three year research project on governance and complexity

My research on polycentric governance aims to provide an ethical and normative account of polycentric institutions of self-government, incorporating insights from MacIntyrean social theory as well as federalism and bottom-up theories of institutional development.

I have published a monograph with Cambridge Univ. Press, another under contract with Routledge. In addition, two edited volumes, ten book chapters, and numerous articles in prominent peer reviewed journals like American Journal of Political Science, Political Theory and Journal of Business Ethics.

I write weekly on culture and current affairs in my Freedom Blog, and have written dozens of op eds for newspapers like The Irish Times and El Mundo, as well as online media like Spiked, Gript, Mercatornet, The Conversation, and The Clingendael Spectator.

I have extensive experience giving talks to both academic and general audiences, large and small, from Spain and France to the UK, United States, Mexico, and Chile.

I have conducted over 20 radio and podcast interviews, and two live TV interviews, on topics such as media diversity, populism, pandemic measures, and freedom of speech.

I have provided policy and strategic advice to elected politicians, electoral candidates, and political movements.

English (native speaker), Spanish (fluent), French (proficient), Italian (good comprehension)

Have produced and edited dozens of social media videos using Adobe Premiere Pro

Awards & Certificates

2017-2021

Ramón y Cajal Research Grant

Grant awarded by the Spanish government in recognition of an outstanding research trajectory, to support research costs for 4 years, and co-finance my salary for the duration of 5 years. €200K in total.

2022-2024

I3 Certificate & Research Consolidation Grant

I won this certificate and consolidation grant from the Spanish government in recognition of outstanding research. €100K in total.  

2004-2015

Two sexenio certificates

Official certification by ANECA (National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation of Spain) of 12 years of research activity and publications

Research Areas

  • Ethics of citizenship

  • Democracy, self-government and federalism

  • Polycentric governance, freedom and human flourishing in social organisations & practices

  • Theory and practice of popular sovereignty

  • The value and practice of free speech in an era of Big Data and social media

Research Projects

RESPUBLICA Project

2020-2023

I was principal investigator of "RESPUBLICA: Building Res Publica in a Culturally and Morally Complex Society." The project was financed by FUNCIVA (Fundación Ciudadanía y Valores). We investigated strategies and norms for adapting political structures and practices to the needs of complex societies (€39K in total)

Academic Publications 

Please find below an up-to-date list of my academic publications.I have published two single-author books, one with Cambridge University Press, and another forthcoming with Routledge; two edited volumes; thirteen book chapters; and eleven articles in peer-reviewed journals such as American Journal of Political Science, Political Theory and Journal of Business Ethics. Click on the these icons right here to download my publications.

“The Polycentric Republic reanimates a fine tradition of theorizing about the possibility of a non-sovereign, pluralist political order. In reviving the critique of sovereignty and articulating a promising alternative to the sovereign State, Thunder artfully synthesises insights from contemporary social science with a neo-Aristotelian account of human flourishing that draws sustenance from the ground-breaking work of Alasdair MacIntyre. This book is a “must read” for anyone looking for a hopeful alternative to the political status quo in our time of growing political troubles.”

—Kelvin Knight, Reader in Ethics and Politics at London Metropolitan University & author of Aristotelian Philosophy: Ethics and Politics from Aristotle to MacIntyre (Polity, 2007)

“This book is a methodical effort to articulate an alternative governance doctrine, based both on contemporary developments in political philosophy, and on insights from the new institutionalist revolution which has taken place in the second half of the 20th century. It is not only a work of intellectual synthesis but also a work of theoretical and institutional imagination. Moreover, it is a real contribution to the applied-level efforts to respond to the acute crisis of governance afflicting 21st century societies.”

—Paul Dragos Aligica, Senior Research Fellow in the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at George Mason University & author of Institutional Diversity and Political Economy: The Ostroms and Beyond (Oxford University Press 2014).

—Douglas den Uyl, Vice President Emeritus and Benjamin A. Rogge Resident Scholar, Liberty Fund Inc. & co-author of Norms of Liberty: A Perfectionist Basis for Non-Perfectionist Politics (Pennslyavania State University Press, 2005)

"This very original work pushes back against the centralized state, relocating the political in many diverse communities which together give order to a composite, bottom-up republic. Thunder seeks to rethink civil order in ways that better accommodate the goods of community life, and develops stunningly new ways of thinking about the virtues of a polycentric political system. This work is not easily captured by convenient ideological notions such as “left” and “right”. Both sides will be challenged and have much to consider."

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“Thunder makes the most detailed and powerful case anyone has yet made…that we should give our deepest ethical commitments full play in what we do as citizens. Not only does personal ethical integrity require it; liberal democracy is in danger if citizens wall off the role of citizen from the norms and values that make for a worthy human life. Citizenship and the Pursuit of the Worthy Life is the ‘against the grain’ book that those of us who do not buy the separationist thesis have long been looking for.”

—Nicholas Wolterstorff, Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology, Yale University

"Thunder's account of the role of citizenship in a worthy life is a broadly attractive one, and he defends it quite ably in his penultimate chapter against six important objections to his integrationist thesis. He writes, moreover, with clarity and grace." ​

—Richard Dagger, Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law, University of Richmond.

"David Thunder makes an excellent case for the wholeness of citizenship, in which the best citizen and the best person come together. His analysis is useful whether one agrees or not and is stated so agreeably that all can admire its clarity and persuasiveness."

—Harvey C. Mansfield, Harvard University, and Hoover Institution, Stanford University

German sociologist Robert Michels argued that any large and complex organization, be it a political party, a trade union, or a State, inexorably tends to embody oligarchic forms of rule, no matter how formally democratic its constitution may be, since it is not practical for large and complex organisations to be ruled equally by all of their members. Michels referred to this tendency as the “iron law of oligarchy.” The iron law of oligarchy explains why most democratic states, no matter how many participatory mechanisms they create, end up with a dramatic power imbalance between officeholders and ordinary citizens. As long as we assume the model of a single sovereign government ruling over the affairs of a large multitude, any institutional reform we try, such as “direct democracy” or citizen assemblies, will have limited success at tempering the effects of the iron law of oligarchy. However, as I will argue in this book, a form of “bottom-up” and authentically polycentric federalism consistent with a robust dispersal of power across the territorial and non-territorial units of the federation can go a long way toward mitigating (though not nullifying) the oligarchic tendencies latent in complex organizations.

Edited Volumes

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“This is a unique contribution that brings together both the practical and the ethical case for polycentric governance. It offers an inspiring ethical vision of polycentricity as a philosophy for life in diverse and complex societies.”

—Mark Pennington, Professor of Political Economy and Public Policy, King’s College London

"Polycentric governance (PG) goes beyond federalism and separation of powers to fully embrace both the full diversity of human aspirations and the highly complex array of overlapping authorities and informal institutions required to encompass and nurture that diversity. Contributors broaden their horizon to consider normative efforts to reconcile plural visions of human flourishing with general principles of justice and social order, and to ensure the ‘intelligibility’ of overlapping conceptions of law. Personally, I was most enamored with the concept of ‘non-territorial polycentricity’, but I’m sure all readers will encounter ideas sure to receive careful attention in future works on complex governance

—Michael McGinnis, Senior Research Fellow and former director, Ostrom Workshop, and Professor Emeritus, Political Science, Indiana University, Bloomington

"Elinor and Vincent Ostrom launched the study of polycentric systems, which has gained momentum in the last decade as an alternative framework to think about social orders. Pablo Paniagua and David Thunder pursue Ostrom’s agenda and put together a collection of essays from diverse disciplines that might become a fundamental contribution to reimagining the state through the lenses of polycentric governance."

—Mario I. Juarez-Garcia, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Political Economy, Tulane University

Journal Articles

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  • "Are Traditional Catholics Defective Citizens?" Josephinum Journal of Theology, vol. 16, no. 2 (2009), pp. 379-393.

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  • “A Rawlsian Argument Against the Duty of Civility.” American Journal of Political Science, vol. 50, no. 3 (July 2006), pp. 676-690.

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Book Chapters

  • “An Ethical Case for Bottom-Up, Polycentric Governance in a Complex Society.” In Polycentric Governance and the Good Society: A Normative and Philosophical Investigation. Co-edited by David Thunder and Pablo Paniagua. (Lexington Books, 2024), pp. 19-39.

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Book Reviews and Essays:

  • “Back to Basics: Twelve Rules for Writing a Publishable Article.” PS: Political Science and Politics, July 2004, pp. 493-495.

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  • Relative Justifications: Review of Graham Long’s Relativism and the Foundations of Liberalism (2004) and Gerald Gaus’s Contemporary Theories of Liberalism (2003). The Review of Politics, vol. 67, no. 4 (Fall 2005): 775-778. 

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  • "The Flattening of Time": Review of Modern Social Imaginaries (Duke University Press, 2004) by Charles Taylor. The Review of Politics, vol. 66, no. 3 (Summer 2004): 145-147. 

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  • Review Essay: Love and Friendship: Rethinking Politics and Affection in Modern Times (Lexington Books, 2003) by Eduardo Velásquez. Interpretation, vol. 35, no. 1 (Fall 2007): 95-101 

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  • Review of Philosophy Between the Lines: The Lost History of Esoteric Writing by Archer M. Melzer (Chicago University Press, 2014). Perspectives in Politics, vol. 13, no. 3 (September 2015): 847-848.

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  • Review of George Rupp's Beyond Individualism: The Challenge of Inclusive Communities (2015). The Review of Politics, vol. 78, no 3 (Summer 2016): 491-493. 

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  • Review of Ralph Ketcham, Public-Spirited Citizenship: Leadership and Good Government in the United States (2015). American Political Thought, vol. 6, no. 2 (Spring 2017): 330-333.  

Book Translation:

Research Visits

May-June 2017

University of Oxford

June-July 2019

Technische Universität of Munich

Jan-Mar 2022

University of Leiden

Oct 2023-Jan 2024

University of Strasbourg

Visiting Fellow, Programme for the Foundations of Law and Constitutional Government, Faculty of Law

Visiting Scholar, Hochschule für Politik

Guest Researcher, School of Law

Visiting Fellow, DRES Research Unit (Droit, Religion, Entreprise et Société)

Teaching

I have taught the equivalent of over 20 semester-long courses at three universities. Here is a selection:

2006 & 2007

Bucknell University

Introduction to Political Theory (undergraduate)

2010

Villanova University

Citizenship in Practice (MA course)

2010-11

Villanova University

Modernity and Its Discontents (modern section of great books course)

2009-2011

Villanova University

Traditions in Conversation (premodern section of great books course)

2012

Villanova University

Globalisation and Community

2012-13

University of Navarra

Introduction to Ethics (undergraduate)

2014

University of Navarra

Freedom, Power and Authority (advanced undergraduate)

2017-19

University of Navarra

Ethics and Social Order (MA course)

2019

Society & Politics: The Quest for Order (PPE undergraduate)

University of Navarra

Democracy and Self-Government (PPE undergraduate elective)

2021

University of Navarra

Public Engagement

  • MEDIA APPEARANCES: I have conducted over 20 radio and podcast interviews and two live TV discussions on a variety of topics of public interest, including the rise of populism, the future of the European Union, the limits of the sovereign State, and pandemic policies in the West.

 

  • OP EDS: I have published over 60 opinion articles in English and Spanish-speaking newspapers and online media, including The Irish Times, Spiked, Mercatornet, Gript, El Mundo, El País, Expansión, El Confidencial, and Diario de Navarra, on a wide range of issues, including the rise of populism in the West, the future of UK after Brexit, and the handling of the pandemic by Western governments. 

 

  • PUBLIC TALKS: I have given guest talks to numerous civic and cultural associations, including Kratos (a Spanish/Navarran association aimed at educating the public about the nature of a free and responsible society), TASC (Think-Tank for Action on Social Change), Sociedad de Estudios Vascos (Society of Basque Studies), Encuentro Mundial de Valores (Mexico), Unión Social de Empresario Mexicanos, and World Youth Alliance.

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