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.
Seventy years and counting: the unsolved problem of press regulation
The Leveson Inquiry was the seventh government-commissioned inquiry into press regulation in the last seventy years. In a new policy paper, Tom O'Malley, Professor of Media at Aberystwyth University, predicts an eighth. He explores the long history of policy failure in this area, and critiques the polarised debate over 'State censorship versus free speech'.
Read MoreBritain’s ‘9/11 Wars’ in historical perspective: why change and continuity matter
Britain's involvement in the '9/11 Wars' has transformed the security landscape but history shows that 'new' adversaries are not that novel and share similarities with more familiar terrorist threats. Dr Aaron Edwards, of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, argues that a strategic analysis of the history of Irish republican terrorism, Al Qaeda affiliates and Britain's response to such adversaries, offers important insights for decision makers today.
Read MoreWhere are all the women in politics?
Women were active voters 75 years before they received the parliamentary franchise in 1918, Sarah Richardson of Warwick University reveals. Previously unseen evidence shows that women voted in parish elections, proof, Prof. Richardson argues, that their political activity was not confined to 'soft politics' as traditionally thought. Prof. Richardson will present BBC Radio 4's Document at 8.00pm tonight to discuss Votes for Victorian Women.
Read MoreThe trouble with deposit insurance
Introduction Banks sometimes fail, a fact brought home dramatically during the latest financial crisis. In 2008 and 2009, some 308 US banks failed. Between them they held deposits equal to seventeen percent of US GDP, and included five of the fourteen largest US deposit-holders. Happily the individuals who had entrusted their cash to these banks […]
Read MoreThe Republican Party in defeat
Introduction Mitt Romney's defeat in the 2012 presidential election has ignited intense debate among Republicans about their party's future. The debate is so active because the party's present condition seems so bleak. The economic setting of this year's presidential campaign seemed to offer a promising moment for a challenge to the incumbent. Recovery from the […]
Read MoreOrganised crime, the mythology of the Mafia, and the American/Anglo Response
Introduction Late in 2011 Home Secretary Theresa May launched a Strategy Paper entitled Local to Global: Reducing the Risk from Organised Crime, which outlined the British government's new approach to a problem it defined as follows: Organised crime involves individuals, normally working with others, with the capacity and capability to commit serious crime on a […]
Read More‘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 […]
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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.
