Tom Theuns
Senior Assistant Professor
- Name
- Dr. T.J.H. Theuns
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 5069
- t.j.h.theuns@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-8838-3397
Tom Theuns is Senior Assistant Professor of Political Theory and European Politics at the Institute of Political Science.
Tom Theuns is Senior Assistant Professor of Political Theory and European Politics at the Institute of Political Science in Leiden and Associate Researcher at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics at Sciences Po Paris. Previously, he held a research position at Utrecht University and a teaching position at the University of Amsterdam. In 2021 he started a four-year Veni grant from the NWO for his project Protecting Democracy in Europe.
Tom Theuns defended his PhD in Political Science at Sciences Po Paris in 2017. His dissertation, ‘The Legitimacy of EU Democracy Promotion in the Neighbourhood’, developed a normative theory of democracy promotion and examined the legitimacy and desirability of EU democracy promotion in Eastern Europe and North Africa using the tools of political theory. Before Paris, he read for an MPhil in Politics at Balliol College, University of Oxford, and a BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences at University College Maastricht. Current research projects investigate the right to vote, especially the democratic legitimacy of disenfranchisement and the appropriate boundaries of the franchise, the tension between democratic ideals and EU policies, procedural accounts of the value and justification of democratic government, and the legitimate scope of EU policies designed to protect and entrench democratic government.
Tom Theuns has published several book chapters and reviews as well as peer-reviewed journal articles in journals such as the American Political Science Review, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, the Journal of European Integration, the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, and Global Justice: Theory, Practice, Rhetoric. As post-doctoral researcher in the ETHOS Horizon2020 project, he also published eight peer-reviewed reports for the European Commission (Research Executive Agency). Besides publishing academic work, Tom Theuns is also a regular commentator on European political affairs for venues including EUobserver, Euractiv, Euronews, and Le Monde Diplomatique.
Mastodon: @TomTheuns@akademienl.social.
PhD supervision
Tom Theuns is available to supervise PhD students and invites PhD candidates to send research proposals in the areas of:
- European politics and governance
- Legal and political theory
- Democratic theory
See more information on PhD positions:
Senior Assistant Professor
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Instituut Politieke Wetenschap
- Daemen J.A.M. & Theuns T.J.H. (2024), Een rechtsstatelijk Europa: beperk de overheidsmacht. In: Aken T. van, Eynden S. van den & Groen A. (Eds.), Veertien missies voor Europa: nieuwe denkers over een vrije, gelijke en democratische toekomst: Boom Geschiedenis. 141-149.
- Rafaela S. & Theuns T. (5 June 2023), Why Hungary cannot be permitted to hold EU presidency. EUobserver, Opinion.
- Theuns T.J.H. & Rafaela S. (8 June 2023), Hongarije als voorzitter van de EU-Raad? : We kunnen het echt nog voorkomen. Trouw, Opinie.
- Theuns T.J.H. (2023), Is the European Union a militant democracy? Democratic backsliding and EU disintegration, Global Constitutionalism : 1-22.
- Sampson M.D. & Theuns T. (2023), Comparing Chinese and EU trade agreement strategies: lessons for normative power Europe?, International Relations : 1-24.
- Sampson M. & Theuns T (2023), Comparing Chinese and EU trade agreement strategies: lessons for normative power Europe?, International Relations : 1-24.
- Theuns T.J.H. (2022), A Fidesz sürgeti az összefogást [Fidesz calls for cooperation], (Népszava (newspaper)): .
- Theuns Tom (2022), The Need for an EU Expulsion Mechanism: Democratic Backsliding and the Failure of Article 7, Res Publica : .
- Oleart A. & Theuns T. (2022), ‘Democracy without politics’ in the European Commission's response to democratic backsliding : from technocratic legalism to democratic pluralism, Journal of Common Market Studies : .
- Jaraczewski J. & Theuns T. (4 April 2022), Splitting up Europe’s authoritarian alliance.
- Oleart A. & Theuns T., Democratic backsliding and the poverty of the European Commission’s conception of democracy. Europp: European Politics and Policy: LSE. [blog entry].
- Oleart A. & Theuns T. (2022), What von der Leyen's 'State of Union' didn't mention. EUobserver, Opinion.
- Oleart A. & Theuns T. (2022), El punto ciego en democracia de la Comisión de Von der Leyen. El País, Agenda Pública.
- Poama A. & Theuns T. (11 February 2021), Voting in prison should be mandatory – here’s why: The Conversation. [blog entry].
- Theuns T.J.H. (2021), Pluralist democracy and non-ideal democratic legitimacy: against functional and global solutions to the boundary problem in democratic theory, Democratic Theory 8(1): 23-49.
- Theuns T. & Daemen J.A.M. (2021), The Latvian ban on unvaccinated MPs should be a wake-up call, .
- Theuns T. (29 November 2021), To understand democracy we need democratic theory. The Loop: EPCR. [blog entry].
- Chamon M. & Theuns T. (11 October 2021), Resisting membership fatalism : dissociation through enhanced cooperation or collective withdrawal. Verfassungsblog. [blog entry].
- Theuns T. (2021), Targeted incremental economic responses to democratic backsliding in the EU . Brussels: Trans European Policy Studies Association.
- Theuns T. (2020), Could we found a new EU without Hungary and Poland?. Paris: EUobserver, EUobserver : .
- Zala M., Rippon S., Theuns T., Maagt S. de & Brink B. van den (2020), From political philosophy to messy empirical reality. In: Knijn T. & Lepianka D. (Eds.), Justice and Vulnerability in Europe: an interdisciplinary approach: Edward Elgar Publishing. 37-53.
- Knijn T., Theuns T. & Zala M. (2020), Redistribution, recognition and representation: understanding justice across academic disciplines. In: Knijn T. & Lepianka D. (Eds.), Justice and vulnerability in Europe: an interdisciplinary approach: Edward Elgar Publishing. 54-72.
- Brink B. van den, Zala M. & Theuns T. (2020), The interplay and tensions between justice claims: Nancy Fraser’s conception of justice, empirical research, and real world political philosophy. In: Knijn T. & Lepianka D. (Eds.), Justice and vulnerability in Europe: an interdisciplinary approach: Edward Elgar Publishing. 197-213.
- Theuns T.J.H. (2020), Containing populism at the cost of democracy? Political vs. economic responses to democratic backsliding in the EU, Global Justice: Theory, Practice, Rhetoric 12(2): 141-160.
- Rippon S., Zala M., Theuns T.J.H., Maagt, S. de & Brink B. van den (2020), Thinking about justice: a traditional philosophical framework. In: Knijn T. & Lepianka D. (Eds.), Justice and vulnerability in Europe: an interdisciplinary approach: Edward Elgar Publishing. 16–36.
- Theuns T. (6 November 2020), Debating “Blasphemous” Cartoons: Orient XXI. [blog entry].
- Poama A. & Theuns T.J.H. (2019), Making offenders vote: democratic expressivism and compulsory criminal voting, American Political Science Review 113(3): 796-809.
- Theuns T. (2019), The Legitimacy of Free Trade Agreements as Tools of EU Democracy Promotion, Cambridge Review of International Affairs 32(1): 3-21.
- Theuns T. (25 November 2019), The Dubious Links between EU Free Trade Agreements and Democracy Promotion: Rule Transfer and Sector-Level Policy-making: EuVisions. [blog entry].
- Theuns T. (27 May 2019), The Netherlands: Politics of Volatility. Tocqueville21. [blog entry].
- Theuns T.J.H., Maagt S. de & Knijn T. (2019), Framework paper on the methodological tool for reflecting and reviewing empirical findings of ETHOS. Utrecht: ETHOS Consortium.
- Brink B. van den, Zala M., Theuns T., Knijn T., Akkan B & Belic J. (2019), Synthetizing ETHOS papers on the interplay & tensions between justice claims, mechanisms that impede and faultlines of Justice. Utrecht: ETHOS Consortium.
- Poama A. & Theuns T.J.H. (2018), Restoring Florida’s Felons Voting Rights is Less Democratic than you Think, : .
- Theuns T.J.H. (10 November 2018), The Rule of Law: Battleground for Democracy. The Rule of Law: Battleground for Democracy: Tocqueville21. [blog entry].
- Theuns T. (2017), Promoting Democracy through Economic Conditionality in the ENP: a Normative Critique, Journal of European Integration 39(3): 287-302.
- Theuns T.H.J. (2017), Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and the Secret Ballot: Insights from 19th Century Democratic Theory, Australian Journal of Politics & History 63(4): 493-507.
- Dejean de la Bâtie A. & Theuns T. (2017), Judge-Made Justification and Democratic Legitimacy in French Criminal Law, Journal of Comparative Law 12(2): 518-536.
- Jongh M.J. de & Theuns T. (2017), Democratic legitimacy, desirability and deficit in EU governance, Journal of Contemporary European Research 13(3): 1283-1300.