Projects
BROWSE OUR CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
Good Business
The financial crisis revealed a series of underlying weaknesses in the economy, from an over-reliance on low-paid, low-skilled jobs to an underinvestment in productive enterprise. Led by Duncan O'Leary, this programme explores how companies can do ‘good business’, aiming for solutions that lead to the decentralisation of power – to employees, consumers and communities.
Welfare and public services
In an age of austerity, budgets are shrinking yet demand for services like education, health and social care is rising. Policymakers must establish what people’s real priorities are – and learn to do more with less. Led by Claudia Wood, this programme investigates those priorities through research on public attitudes to key areas of the welfare state.
The Power of Prepaid
Jo Salter, Claudia Wood, Ally PagetThis research is exploring the potential of prepaid card technology to achieve a personalised, integrated, empowering state.
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The Home Cure
Claudia Wood, Jo SalterThis project looks at the role social housing providers can play in helping people back to independent living following a period in hospital.
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Under One Roof
Claudia Wood, Phillida CheethamDemos is currently looking at how social housing providers can act as co-ordinators and hubs for support and earlier intervention for their clients.
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Advising Ambition
Eugene Grant, Jonathan BirdwellThis project will focus on school-to-work transition: how our education and training systems are preparing young people for employment.
MoreCitizenship and political participation
Britain continues to experience declining public trust and participation in formal politics, in addition to rising loneliness and social isolation. Led by Jonathan Birdwell, this programme explores the ideas and institutions that can help bring together a more fragmented society.
The Power Gap
Dan Leighton, Simon HampsonA landmark project on everyday power shows how far we have to travel to become a nation of powerful people.
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A People's Inquiry into Personal Information
Peter Bradwell, Dan LeightonThis 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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Economic Literacy
Dan Leighton, Jen LexmondThe 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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Inside Stories
Celia Hannon, Jonathan Birdwell, Tommy Moody, Pippa ReadDemos has embarked on a new research project aimed uncovering the real life experiences of social housing residents, with the aim of using their personal stories to inform both policymaking and the activities of Housing Associations in the UK.
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The Edgeless University
Peter BradwellThis project explores how technological and social change impact on universities. Technology has the potential to help all universities become open universities, but its implications, opportunities and uncertainties need deeper explanation.
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Network Citizens
Duncan O'Leary, Peter Bradwell, Richard ReevesThis project will explore how social networks will transform the workplace, with implications for how people experience work and businesses increase their bottom line.
MoreIntegration and national identity
Questions of national identity are all around us, on Englishness and the future of the Union, to appropriate responses to historically high levels of immigration into the UK. Led by Max Wind-Cowie, this programme aims to close the gap between the ordinary voter and the political class to develop a sense of how we live together.
The Centre for the Analysis of Social Media (CASM)
A collaboration between Demos and the Text Analytics Group at the University of Sussex, CASM combines computer science with social science to analyse social media. Led by Jamie Bartlett, its work will develop social media analysis as a valid instrument of research that meets the needs of policy and decision-makers.
Demos Finance
Demos Finance is a new financial services research unit, providing industry leaders, policymakers and the public with a reliable source of objective and easily comprehensible analysis of the sector. Led by Andrew Freeman, it will generate new ideas and public policy solutions, will help to explain and ‘translate’ complex arguments to a non-specialist public.
Political Ideas
Alongside and connected with our research programes, Demos has political projects focused on the burning issues in current political thinking.
The Atlas of Ideas
Jack Stilgoe, James Wilsdon, Kirsten Bound, Natalie Day, Molly Webb, Charles LeadbeaterThe Atlas of Ideas was a three year programme at Demos, which explored changes in the global geography of science and innovation. Between 2005 and 2008, it published studies of China, India, South Korea and Brazil.
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Future Planners
Peter BradwellThe planning system has been reborn – what roles will planners be playing, and what tools will they need, to maximise the democratic potential of the planning system?
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The Collaborative State Collection
This collection will outline the lessons to be learned from inter-organisational collaboration in practice, through case studies looking at successful collaboration in action, and conceptual and systems analysis.
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Demos Website
Our new website is designed for transparency and discussion. Let us know if you have technical difficulties, questions about new features, new ideas and suggestions.
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Greening Up Demos
Charlie Tims, Melissa Mean, Molly Webb, Celia Hannon, Joost BeundermanWe're committed to being an environmentally-friendly organisation. With all the travel we're doing, it's not going to be easy. We want to share our experiences and efforts at going green on this page - with the ultimate aim of becoming a zero carbon/zero waste workplace.
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