The Overton Window

Some may have heard that Glenn Beck has written a new work of fiction called the Overton Window. But how many know what the Overton Window is?

The Overton window is a concept in political theory, named after its originator, Joseph P. Overton (4 January 1960 - 30 June 2003)[1], former vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.[2] It describes a "window" in the range of public reactions to ideas in public discourse, in a spectrum of all possible options on a particular issue (see the Wikipedia here.).

A little more specifically, this means that At any given moment the “window” includes a range of policies considered to be politically acceptable in the current climate of public opinion, with “acceptable” defined as something a politician can recommend without being considered too “extreme” or outside the mainstream to gain or keep public office.

Now, what is someone like Barack Obama wants to push a policy that might be viewed as most citizens as "extreme"? Well, what he and his supporters do is to move the Overton Window to a point where the new policy is not seen as extreme.

Let's consider an example: Let us suppose that Barack Obama wants to institute reparations for all African American citizens of $10million as compensation for the pain and suffering of their slave ancestors. Now, the country as a whole would probably view this as "too extreme". In order to make this proposal sound reasonable, he and his supporters would have to shift the Overton Window to a point which makes the proposal seem reasonable. They might highlight the plight of slaves in documentaries. They might have community organizing activities to try and shame those who do not support the proposal. They might try to stage violent outburst against African Americans who speak out for the proposal.

Over time these activities would have the effect of making the proposal for massive reparations not seem so extreme. Eventually the Window could shift enough that the proposal would become law with a majority of support in the nation.

That is the concept of the Overton Window.