Pulling Strings

Stephen Harper qualifies for an “ism,” as in Thatcherism and Reaganism, because, according to Harperism: How Stephen Harper and His Think Tank Colleagues Have Transformed Canada, he has shifted the political culture of Canada incrementally and perhaps irrevocably to the right. Donald Gutstein, a journalist and Simon Fraser University communications professor, focuses on the global network of conservative think tanks that have contributed to this shift. Gutstein, who comes from the opposite end of the political spectrum to Harper, asserts as his thesis: “I believe it was thanks to the persistent efforts of think tanks like the Fraser Institute that radical Reform ideas became ‘common sense’.”

The 2013 “Global Go To” report identifies an astonishing 6,826 think tanks in the world with 1,984 in North America. There are thought to be about a hundred in Canada depending how think tank is defined—not a straightforward task. Two thirds in existence today were...