Home
»

Innovation

ResPublica Profiled in the Economist

by Editor 0

Send for the wonks

"When ResPublica, a new think-tank, was officially launched in November last year, the guest of honour was David Cameron, then the leader of the opposition. Just six months later, the “big society” was a key theme in his election campaign, an idea that can be clearly tracked back to Phillip Blond, ResPublica’s founder."

view media comment

Changing coalitions in midstream

by Adam Schoenborn 0

The tumultuous Canadian experience of minority government

"... What followed was a constitutional nightmare, wherein the Crown (represented in Canada by a former journalist chosen by the Prime Minister of the previous administration) suspended parliament in order to avoid a no confidence vote and the collapse of the Government. During that legislative recess, one of the principal options being considered (and debated by constitutional scholars) in the event of an eventual no confidence vote was for the Crown to invite opposition parties to form a new coalition government - without holding another election ..."

view full blog post

Gift Aid It

by Jonathan West 1

How JustGiving.com nudges people towards tax-efficient charitable giving

"...a couple raising money for MacMillan Cancer Support organised an Open Garden Event. They raised an impressive £10,000. However, the vast majority of this was through cash donations of £20. Although the couple asked each guest to fill out a form, many were not completed. I have to commend the perseverance of this couple, who spent considerable amounts of time after the event contacting guests to ensure as many donations as possible received Gift Aid. But I have to ask myself whether charities could possibly have the capacity for this kind of perseverance?..."

view full blog post

Point and Laugh No More - Part Two

by Tim Cowen 0

Tim Cowen's ideas to harness the state and market for society's fulfillment

"... We know that given half a chance, people will innovate. The question is how to get them to do so in the wider public interest particularly when the assets that they control are general purpose goods or utilities where they could simply sit on top of monopoly and do as little as possible, extracting rent..."

view full blog post

Keep thinking Big

by Asheem Singh 7

ResPublica's Deputy Director explores the next stages of the Big Society in Policy Review Magazine

Focus groups didn't like the Big Society, allowing Labour to make rare comedy capital in an otherwise drab election campaign by caricaturing it as a DIY state. We perform open-heart surgery on our neighbours, collect the bins, provide victim support on the telephone and then rush off to teach economics at the local school. The coalition could have put the idea to bed, along with the politically difficult commitment to raise the inheritance tax threshold and the bizarre idea to give a £3 weekly bonus to married couples (a rare, rather post-modernist example of policymaking by “sign”). Yet the Big Society remains. For what failed as a slogan could potentially be one of the most radical governing principles in recent history: one that transforms our public services, transforms our civil society and changes the way we think about public service in our public life.

view full article

Radical change needed to support social enterprise start ups, says Red Tory report

by Gemma Hampson 0

Coverage of ResPublica's Venture Society report

"...It makes seven calls to government to help create the Conservatives’ Big Society and break down the ‘numerous barriers’ to the development of new social enterprises. These include government reforming its own structures to secure more support and investment for social entrepreneurs at the grassroots..."

view media comment

Think tank calls for creation of a ‘venture society’

by Jill Theobald 0

Coverage of ResPublica's Venture Society report

"...The venture society - which was produced in collaboration with UnLtd, a charity which supports social entrepreneurs - wants the government to reform its own structures to enable more support and investment to social entrepreneurs at grass roots level..."

view media comment

More Praise for the Venture Society

by Editor 10

‘The Venture Society’, a flagship report from ResPublica's Civil Society and Social Innovation Unit, was launched at the SHINE UnConference on 13th May 2010. Since the publication of this report we have been inundated with ideas and messages from social enterprises who are making the ideas happen in practice and whose ideas go with the grain of ours. These include London Creative Labs and the SHINE hub in Leeds. The big society will not happen unless we create the infrastructure that allows those who do such great work to scale and expand even further. We are about to undertake the second stage of the Venture Society work where we platform and work with similar incubators so as to create government programmes that can help make the Venture Society a reality. If you run or have been benefited by one such, please leave a note in the comments or contact report author Asheem Singh at asheem.singh@respublica.org.uk

view full article

When Political Parties Agree (on What's Good)

by Asheem Singh 10

The 'beef' with civil society

"...Anyone who has attended an event with the three 'third sector' supremos from each side – Nick Hurd MP, Jenny Willott MP, and the sadly departed Angela Smith – will have been struck by the measure of consensus on the policy issues...'

view full blog post

Memo to All Parties: Social Enterprise remains Your Ally

by Gina Lovett 2

Social enterprises continue to transform lives and innovate. A new government cannot afford not to enable their agenda

"...The next step for the New Peckham Experiment is to see how it could work in today’s context, thinking about changes such as fragmentation of the traditional family unit and advancements in technology..."

view full blog post