Policy Papers
History & Policy papers are written by expert historians, based on peer-reviewed research. They offer historical insights into current policy issues ranging from Afghanistan and Iraq, climate change and internet surveillance to family dynamics, alcohol consumption and health reforms. For historians interested in submitting a paper, please see the editorial guidelines.
Currently, 252 papers are freely searchable by theme, author or keyword, with new papers published regularly. Where possible, we publish papers to coincide with relevant policy developments. If you are a policy maker, civil society practitioner or journalist and would like to contact one of our historians, please contact [email protected].
You can download H&P policy papers directly from the Apple iBooks store to your iPhone, iPad or Mac. We also have an Amazon Kindle version to download to your PC for transfer to your Kindle via USB cable. Please consult your Kindle manual for further details.
‘The dangerous age of childhood’: child guidance in Britain c.1918-1955
Introduction In March 2012, the Children's Minister Sarah Teather announced that parenting classes would be trialled in three areas, delivered by six different providers, with all parents in the area with a child under five entitled to a voucher to attend a course. The Department for Education (DfE) press release stated that classes are likely […]
Read More‘Troubled Families’: the lessons of history, 1880-2012
The chronology of the 'underclass' debate The Coalition Government is determined to tackle what it perceives to be 'troubled' families. In December 2011, the Prime Minister announced the Government would 'get to grips' with England's 120,000 'most troubled families'. He argued that a relatively small number of families caused many of the problems in society, […]
Read More‘Yes ma’am’: domestic workers and employment rights
Conditions in British domestic service Downton Abbey has presented a world of intimate, glamorous servant-keeping, where above and below stairs love affairs and dramatic twists have gripped ITV viewers. The series is historically well-researched, but presents a very partial story of domestic service in Britain. Employment was predominantly in households with just one or two […]
Read MoreThe Union and the Constitution
Introduction The SNP won an overall majority at the 2011 general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament, and has claimed a mandate to hold a referendum during its four-year term of office about Scotland's constitutional relationship with the rest of the United Kingdom. 2014 – the seven hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in […]
Read MoreOn your marks… formulating sports policy and Britain’s Olympic legacy
Introduction The London Olympics of 2012 will be a spectacular global phenomenon. In excess of £9 billion of public money has been committed to ensure the success of the Games. The organisers have pledged a tangible Olympic 'legacy', delivering sustainable regeneration in east London and lasting improvements for British sport. The picture was very different […]
Read MoreSupporting Active Fatherhood in Britain
Introduction: assumptions about history Many policy-makers, journalists and social commentators suggest that in previous decades, fathers were distant family members and did not have close relationships with their children. In June 2011 in The Independent, journalist Terence Blacker stated that 'The generation of men who fought in the Second World War and their immediate successors […]
Read MoreNot protest but direct action: anarchism past and present
Introduction Fifty to sixty years ago anarchism appeared to be a spent force, as both a movement and a political theory, yet since the 1960s there has been a resurgence in Europe and North America of anarchist ideas and practice. Britain nowadays must have a greater number of conscious anarchists than at any previous point […]
Read More‘Fraudulent’ disability in historical perspective
Introduction In November 2011 it was estimated that 2.4 million people in the UK received incapacity benefits. The principal aim of the coalition government's welfare reform is to reduce this number and curtail a perceived culture of welfare dependency, helping into employment people previously assessed as being unable – or in common portrayals – unwilling […]
Read MoreBritish and American banking in historical perspective: beware of false precedents
Introduction The ideal banking system is one that is both stable and competitive. If that is achieved financial crises are avoided, savers receive satisfactory rates of interest, and borrowers obtain the funds they require on the terms and conditions they want. Such an ideal is probably unobtainable and no degree of intervention by governments can […]
Read MorePutting pandemics in perspective
Introduction Writing in 1750, seven years after a devastating European-wide epidemic of influenza, the English country doctor and surgeon John Huxham characterised flu as the 'morbus omnium maxime epidemicus' or the 'greatest of all sicknesses'. For the next 200 years or so that served as a pretty good working definition. As the German disease geographer […]
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About Us
H&P is based at the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, University of London.
We are the only project in the UK providing access to an international network of more than 500 historians with a broad range of expertise. H&P offers a range of resources for historians, policy makers and journalists.
