About HarperIndex.ca

A new kind of project in political analysis and online collaboration for those who support a public values frame.

HarperIndex.ca is product of the Golden Lake Institute, a new non-profit institution with incorporation and charitable status pending. It is managed by the online newsmagazine Straight Goods and produced by a collaborative partnership that was founded by Straight Goods and the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE or National).

The Golden Lake Institute comprises a group of individuals who see themselves on the political Left who feel the Left needs to find new ways to think and talk and encourage others to think and talk about its political undertaking. We agree with George Lakoff and others who argue that the heart of political strategy is the ability to successfully "frame" issues in ways that appeal to people's deepest values and understandings.

The Golden Lake Institute believes a modern Left needs a thoughtful, collaborative, coherent approach to promoting a "Common Good Frame" and the values, messages and policies that flow from it: cooperation, equality, opportunity, investment, reclaiming the commons, public services for everyone and more. The Institute exists to scrutinize the framing and persuasion techniques of the political Right and attempts to develop new frames and approaches that will help the political Left in four important ways.

1. By building public support for, and political objectives in service of, public values and the common good.
2. By bringing together activists, researchers, writers and leaders for discussion and debate to contribute to developing shared strategies and language.
3. By developing the communication skills of progressive candidates for public office and other advocates of the common good.
4. By enabling the political Left to refresh and broaden its analysis and transform its own political tactics into a powerful, unifying force for public values and the common good in a new century.

Links and sources
  Golden Lake Institute
  Rockridge Institute