This report addresses common “austerian” arguments regarding the relationship between “excessive” public spending and interest rates, inflation, and GDP growth. Access the Report
To attain affordable housing for all, we must build public support by shifting narratives away from consumer choice and personal responsibility. Access the Article
To lay the groundwork for a sustained 21st century narrative change effort promoting mobility from poverty, criminal justice reform, and opportunity for all, The Opportunity Agenda embarked on a six-part narrative research study, with the aim of identifying the essential and replicable elements of past successful efforts, gleaning the insights captured in academic literature, […]
To what extent is this unprecedented pandemic shifting thinking about care work? The FrameWorks Institute is exploring this question as part of our empirical study on culture change during a time of upheaval. Access the Report
This report synthesizes the complex body of research around existing poverty narratives and counter-narratives, with practical advice about how to use narratives to create better stories—and, ultimately, to create social change. Access the Report
Published in 2021, this report identifies dominant, emerging, and enduring narratives shaping the landscape at the nexus of Covid-19, workers, jobs, and the economy. Access the Report
Topos research in Kansas points to the opportunity to nurture a cultural shift in Americans’ thinking about taxes and spending that is less reflexively negative and which instead stresses that broadly shared prosperity, quality of life, and a thriving nation rely on effective government, so we all have a stake in ensuring sufficient, sustainable revenues […]
This multipart research effort by Topos serves as a detailed map of the cultural understandings that influence public debate on taxes and budgets. To build public support for progressive tax policy, Topos’ research points to the need for an explanatory model anchored by a vivid metaphor. In short, the tax system is upside-down – it […]
For historically marginalized communities, a distant, even oppressive, government is nothing new. Yet the pain of declining community investments, the rise of a police surveillance state, and the weight of inequity is felt acutely. In 2017, Topos embarked on a project to listen to the voices of people who have been marginalized by elected leaders, […]
This short video provides examples of how Mainers reacted to hearing about evidence of economic success of a tax and budget policy from another state. Watch the Video