BROWSE OUR CURRENT AND PAST RESEARCH PROJECTS

How our projects are organised

Demos' projects are organised by programme area. We have four core research programmes: Capabilities, Citizenship, Independence and Security and three other major areas of work: Progressive Conservatism, Culture and Capital.

Use the tabs to browse projects within each core programme, other areas or new ideas seeking partnership. Click on the names above for more background.

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The Character Inquiry

Jen Lexmond, Richard Reeves

A growing body of evidence shows that character is the most important factor in determining life chances.  The Character Inquiry brings together research leaders and experts to explore how developing character skills can be encouraged in public and private life.

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The Way We Live Now

Julia Margo

Demos is exploring how lifestyles in Britain have changed in the past few decades and what it is that make our modern lives unique.

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Anatomy of Youth

Celia Hannon, Charlie Tims

Anatomy of Youth is a new research project which will look at society and policy making from the perspective of young people in Britain aged 16-25.

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A People's Inquiry into Personal Information

Peter Bradwell, Dan Leighton

This project will feature a 'People's Inquiry' to explore people's attitudes to the use of their personal information. It will use the outcomes from the deliberative groups to develop practical ideas for matching public expectations and personal information policy.

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Open Left

Graeme Cooke

Open Left is about rediscovering the Left's idealism, pluralism and appetite for radical ideas. It starts by asking an essential, but contested question: what does it mean to be on the Left today?

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Economic Literacy

Dan Leighton, Jen Lexmond, Eugene Grant

The health of the economy has a profound effect on our lives. Too often, however, the economy is experienced as something that happens to us, rather than something we are part of. Few speak the language of the ‘dismal science’, and this impacts negatively on our democratic public life. Demos’ Economic Literacy project will probe this ‘democratic deficit’ in economic life.

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Capabilities

Personal resources – such as skills, character, health and material resources - deeply affect people's ability to shape their own lives. Led by Sonia Sodha, our capabilities programme focuses on the skills and traits people need to lead a fulfilled and autonomous life and how families, communities and schools can support children and young people in developing them

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The Character Inquiry

Jen Lexmond, Richard Reeves

A growing body of evidence shows that character is the most important factor in determining life chances.  The Character Inquiry brings together research leaders and experts to explore how developing character skills can be encouraged in public and private life.

More
Anantomy_of_youth_proj

Anatomy of Youth

Celia Hannon, Charlie Tims

Anatomy of Youth is a new research project which will look at society and policy making from the perspective of young people in Britain aged 16-25.

More
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In Loco Parentis

Celia Hannon, Claudia Wood, Louise Bazalgette

Taking a child away from its parents is one of the most significant, life-altering powers available to the state. This wide ranging project will start with the views of young people, to ask how the state can ensure that they are financially, academically and emotionally resilient once they leave the care system.

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The Home Front

Jen Lexmond, Julia Margo

Following on from our publication Building Character on parenting and early years, Demos is building the case for ‘character’ as the key to life chances.

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Ex Curricula

Sonia Sodha

Demos is undertaking a year-long research project focused on children aged 7-16 who are already displaying signs of being at risk of social exclusion and deprivation in later life.

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Wishful Thinking

Alessandra Buonfino, Silvia Guglielmi

Wishful Thinking delves into the hopes and dreams of everyday Britain, discovering that in the face of collective pessimism, as individuals we are positive, pragmatic and generous in our wishes and expectations.

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Independence

To live freely and independently – to be able choose our own path through life – is a goal of open, democratic societies. Institutions can sap power by narrowing choice and cultivating dependency. Led by Jamie Bartlett, our work on independence is built on the presumption that power belongs with individuals rather than institutions.

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Liberation Welfare

Graeme Cooke, Paul Gregg, Pippa Read

Jamie Bartlett and Professor Paul Gregg (author of the Gregg Report on welfare reform) are editing a collection of essays about the future of welfare.

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Citizenship

Individuals belong to communities and are inter-dependent, so decisions about the shared conditions of life must be taken together. While active citizenship underpins a free, open and fair society, inequality inhibits our ability participate fully in our communities. Led by Celia Hannon, our work on citizenship calls for broader, more flexible definitions of citizenship in order to foster a healthier civil society.

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A People's Inquiry into Personal Information

Peter Bradwell, Dan Leighton

This project will feature a 'People's Inquiry' to explore people's attitudes to the use of their personal information. It will use the outcomes from the deliberative groups to develop practical ideas for matching public expectations and personal information policy.

More
Economic_literacy_mini_project

Economic Literacy

Dan Leighton, Jen Lexmond, Eugene Grant

The health of the economy has a profound effect on our lives. Too often, however, the economy is experienced as something that happens to us, rather than something we are part of. Few speak the language of the ‘dismal science’, and this impacts negatively on our democratic public life. Demos’ Economic Literacy project will probe this ‘democratic deficit’ in economic life.

More
Missing

Trust and local government

Jonathan Birdwell, Samuel Jones, Faizal Farook

We've all got a sense that trust in government and public services is declining. But we very seldom step back and ask questions like: what do we mean by trust, how do people form trusting relationships, and how can public service organisations realistically develop more of those relationships?

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Security

Security underpins our everyday lives. While the primary duty of government is the safety of its citizens and the protection of the national interest, the range and complexity of security issues is forcing us to reevaluate existing approaches and policies. Led by Charlie Edwards, our work on security shifts focus from the state and towards exploring the role of communities and individuals.

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Resilient Places

Samuel Jones, Pippa Read

This project will investigate how infrastructure contributes to making places resilient and what opportunities infrastructure might provide in the future.

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On the edge of violence?

Jamie Bartlett, Jonathan Birdwell

This project looks at the relationship between violent and non-violent radicalisation by mapping the flow of ideas, people and money through violent and non-violent radical groups.

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Wicked Jihad

Jamie Bartlett

Counter terrorism policy is increasingly about preventing violent extremism before it arises but we are still a long way from understanding what that appeal is. This think-piece explores some explanations which are often overlooked.

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Other programmes

Several major areas of work are separate from our main programmes.

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The Way We Live Now

Julia Margo

Demos is exploring how lifestyles in Britain have changed in the past few decades and what it is that make our modern lives unique.

More
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Open Left

Graeme Cooke

Open Left is about rediscovering the Left's idealism, pluralism and appetite for radical ideas. It starts by asking an essential, but contested question: what does it mean to be on the Left today?

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The Progressive Conservatism Project

Jonty Olliff-Cooper, Max Wind-Cowie, Andrea Djonovic, Georgia Brown

Demos has launched a major new project to explore progressive conservative thinking and policy.

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RSC Ensemble Working

John Holden, Robert Hewison, Samuel Jones

We are working with the Royal Shakespeare Company as it embarks on a major programme of change in the way it is led and managed, to mirror the physical transformation of its home in Stratford-upon-Avon.

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New ideas

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A very British foreign policy

Max Wind-Cowie, Jonathan Birdwell

This project aims to facilitate genuine public engagement in British foreign policy.  Demos will ask a representative sample of British people, with advice and debate from internationally renowned experts and thinkers, to draw up a list of principles on which they feel that British foreign policy should be based. 

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Taking Drugs Seriously

Jonathan Birdwell, Jake Chapman

Demos is designing a new project of work that seeks to crack the stymied debate around UK drugs policy. This project will apply systems theory to imagine what the world could potentially look like if drugs were regulated as opposed to criminalised. Without imagining what such a world would entail it is impossible to move beyond the current impasse.

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Economic Lives

Julia Margo

Britain's experience with recession has highlighted deep-rooted public misgivings about what living in an advanced capitalist society means for individuals. What would a new British political economic model look like if it was led by an economic culture that placed real value on a work ilfe balance, social justice and skill-building across the life cycle?

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Neighbourhood Watch 2.0

Jonathan Birdwell, Jamie Bartlett

Demos is looking at how communities can bring neighbourhood watch into the twenty-first century.

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On Your Side

Jonty Olliff-Cooper, Max Wind-Cowie

The Progressive Conservatism Project will set out a new, radical agenda for how older people can be better supported by the state and each other in a time of shrinking budgets, by creating a new facilitator services to unscramble the complex web of state and charitable help already on offer.

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It Takes a Village

Sonia Sodha

This project will look at what underpins the willingness of adults to engage with children and young people in their local area and how this creates cultural and behavioural norms to monitor behaviour.

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