Publications
All Policy Exchange publications are free to download in .pdf format. You can also purchase hard copies of the majority of our reports – check each individual report page for details.
Recent Publications
The Leadership Effect: Can Headteachers Make a Difference?
James O'ShaughnessyWe expect more of our school leaders than ever before. Gone is the view of the head teacher as primus inter pares; they are now supposed to be visionary leaders, curriculum specialists, disciplinarians, senior managers, community representatives and, just occasionally, teachers too. They are expected to transform the worst state schools and maintain performance in the best. But is this emphasis on leadership justified? Can headteachers make a difference?
Living apart together British Muslims and the paradox of multiculturalism
Munira MirzaThis report finds that there is a growing religiosity amongst the younger generation of Muslims and that they feel that they have less in common with non-Muslims than do their parents. Significantly, they exhibit a much stronger preference for Islamic schools and sharia law and place a greater stress on asserting their identity publicly, for example, by wearing the hijab.
The Best Laid Plans: How planning prevents economic growth
Dr Oliver Marc HartwichThe Best Laid Plans concludes that the main objective of planning has been to limit the spatial extent of cities and that this artificial reduction of land supply has severe consequences for society, the environment and the economy.
No More Tiers: Reforming Shire Government
Glyn GaskarthThis report outlines a better model of local government: an innovative model of ‘federal’ county government, which streamlines bureaucracy and presents a unified public face, while power originates at a very local level and is delegated up where necessary.
Science vs Superstition: the case for a new scientific enlightenment
Dr Oliver Marc HartwichScience vs Superstition – the case for a new scientific enlightenment challenges the common belief that scientific progress in today’s world inevitably entails an element of danger or moral uncertainty.
Living for the City: A New Agenda for Green Cities
Jesse Norman MPLiving for the City brings out crucial yet unexpected links between ‘direct democracy’ or greater citizen participation in community action and local decision-making; greener, healthier and safer city environments; and improved economic growth.
2056: What future for Maggie’s Children?
Roger GoughUsing demographic projections to map key public policy challenges UK society faces over the next 50 years, Policy Exchange – together with charity Age Concern – has commissioned MPs, academics and business figures to consider the policy tools needed for younger generations to be able to approach later life with confidence.
When Progressives Treat with Reactionaries: The British State’s flirtation with radical Islamism
Policy ExchangeMartin Bright’s unique run of classified ‘scoops’ on the British State’s policy of accommodating Islamist reactionaries at home and abroad has set all kinds of dovecotes a-flutter in Whitehall. Now, courtesy of Policy Exchange, Bright has brought them all together in one accessible pamphlet – as well as some hitherto unpublished material which the Government would rather we never had seen.
Compassionate Conservatism: what it is, why we need it
Janan Ganesh and Jesse Norman MPWhat is compassionate conservatism, and how can it meet the social and political challenges faced by today’s Britain? These are the questions that Jesse Norman and Janan Ganesh answer in their acclaimed new book.
Confessions of a Hawkish Hack: The Media and the War on Terror
Policy ExchangeMuch of the discourse on the war on terror has sacrificed historical perspective for an often partisan focus on the day-by-day flow of events. Confessions of a hawkish hack: the media and the war on terror is Matthew D’Ancona’s critique of such short-termism. In it, he outlines his own interpretation of the attacks of 9/11 and the media’s coverage of events since then.
