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.
Conference Report: Political pressure and the archival record
Introduction The international scene today makes it plain that the compilation and use of records is a crucial factor in holding governments and public authorities accountable to their people. The management of records and historical archives has traditionally been seen as a neutral matter. The findings of this first international conference to examine the question […]
Read MoreIntelligence analysis needs to look backwards before looking forward
Introduction Twenty-nine years ago, as the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh, Pol Pot announced the beginning of Year Zero, insisting that Cambodia must disown its past and start again from scratch. There are nowadays some eminent voices in the United States who appear to tell us that Intelligence, too, must declare its Year Zero. To […]
Read MoreDemocratisation: historical lessons from the British case
Introduction Observers of democratisation talk about the process as running in phases. Internationally speaking, there have been several. Britain is one of a number of political systems that can be located in the first and most extended phase, beginning in the nineteenth century and 'completing' in the twentieth. It shared essentially evolutionary experiences, presided over […]
Read More‘Our fire and rescue service’: a local, regional or national responsibility?
Introduction History can deepen contemporary policy debate, and it demonstrates that questions over the local, regional and national status of the fire service are not new. It also reveals that the fire service has already undergone comprehensive reform during periods when national security has been threatened. Indeed, amidst heightened concern about terrorism, the service is […]
Read MoreFrom Herbert Morrison to command and control: the decline of local democracy
'Good Old 'Erb' Herbert Morrison was elected Labour Mayor of Hackney in 1920, one year after his party swept to power in a landslide victory that began a new age in London's local politics. His fellow London Labour Mayors numbered among them Major Clement Attlee in Stepney and George Lansbury in Poplar. Over the next […]
Read MoreThe animal cause and its greater traditions
Introduction It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that compared to other lines of reform, animals unfortunately enjoy the status of a lesser cause. In most circles, they never seem to receive the kind of seriousness and respect people pay to other 'more important' issues concerning humans. However large a collective […]
Read MoreNo turning back: family forms and sexual mores in modern Britain
Introduction Family policy is usually thought of and discussed as if it were separate from sexual issues, but the two are very much interconnected. In the Green Paper Supporting Families: A Consultative Document (1998) the Labour government set out the principles that have shaped their family policy. In this they stated that '[M]arriage does provide […]
Read MoreBritain’s police forces: forever removed from democratic control?
Introduction In the mid-nineteenth century, policing power was largely exercised by local government, and the boroughs of England and Wales fiercely protected the police powers exercised by their elected watch committees. These powers were symbolic of the city's independence, and police forces were crucial exercisers of executive power locally, concerning poor relief, licensing laws, the […]
Read MoreUlster Unionism and a sense of history
Introduction Both moderate Unionists and moderate Nationalists have put themselves on the line over the last decade in the attempt to find a political solution to the Northern Ireland problem. The nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) looks set to be further eclipsed by Sinn Fein at the forthcoming Northern Ireland assembly elections; David […]
Read MoreThe past and future of the NHS: New Labour and foundation hospitals
Introduction New Labour has had to come to terms with the party's previous history. Nationalised and centralised institutions such as the National Health Service (NHS), once praised as crowning glories of previous Labour administrations are now seen as problematic for the party. Many of New Labour's policies are as much about distancing themselves from 'old' […]
Read More
News RSS Feed
How to Use RSS Feeds
To subscribe to the History & Policy News feed in your feed reader, copy the URL and paste it in your RSS Aggregator.
COPY URL TO RSS READER
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.
