Dr T.H. Tempels (Tjidde)
Assistant professor - Empirical Political Science
Hotspot coordinator - Sustainable Democracy
Tjidde Tempels is Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the Department of Political Science and coordinator of the research Hotspot Sustainable Democracy. He is interested (non-)democratic theories, democratic innovation, business ethics, and political corporate responsibility in particular. In his work he aims to further our understanding of whether and why the political involvement of firms in our democracies is morally (un)desirable.
In his interdisciplinary research Tjidde investigates the political role firms ought to play in democratic and non-democratic systems. Over the years the involvement of large corporate actors such as Big Tech, Big Food and Big Oil in politics and governance has increased. How should we assess the political activities of the (owners of) firms such as X or Meta? Is it desirable to include large food multinationals in tackling public health problems such as obesity? Should we see this as undue involvement in democratic deliberation and decision making? Or are these examples of good corporate citizenship? And how do corporate political activities affect the functioning and quality of our democracy? It are these kinds of questions, at the intersection of political theory, empirical political science and business ethics, that Tjidde seeks answers to.
Apart from research, Tjidde enjoys teaching. He is an enthusiastic lecturer who is firmly committed to creating innovative and engaging courses to maintain the excellent PolSci educational programs at Radboud University. He has experience teaching political theory, (political) philosophy, and applied ethics on wide variety of topics. Currently is he is developing a special interest in Confucian political thought, applied ethics, and non-democratic theories, and these topics are likely to return in his courses.