This article interrogates both the more extreme claims of the anti-regulation advocates and the alleged successes of anti-red tape initiatives, identifying a critical clash of values over the role of the state and the appropriate relationship between government, business and the community.

This article discusses a not-so-obvious question of what kinds of people and organisations actually perform the role of a regulator, and why this might matter.

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has seen the biggest experiment in rapid behaviour change in the 21st century, as governments try to persuade and regulate entire populations to make huge changes to their lives for the common good.

To produce evidence with ‘impact’, and know how to ‘make evidence count’, we need to understand the policy process and how evidence is produced and used in a complex system.