THE OVERTON WINDOW

GROK The Overton Window is a concept in political theory that describes the range of ideas or policies that are considered acceptable or mainstream within a society at a given time. It’s named after Joseph Overton, a political scientist and former vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, who developed the idea in the 1990s to explain how policymakers and the public perceive the viability of certain ideas. The "window" represents the spectrum of policies that politicians can propose and still be taken seriously by the public without being dismissed as too extreme. How the Overton Window Works The Overton Window operates on a spectrum of acceptability, typically ranging from "unthinkable" to "popular" or even "policy." Here’s a breakdown of the spectrum, from least to most acceptable: Unthinkable : Ideas that are considered completely outside the realm of possibility, often seen as radical, dangerous, or morally unacceptable. For ex...