Overton’s window is a theory that helps to explain how certain ideas are legitimised in the eyes of public opinion, and how from this, a set of citizens adapt to these ideas. It is a metaphor developed by Joseph Overton, who directed one of the most important public policy centers in the United States.

In this article we explain what the Overton Window is and why it has been a very important idea to understand how a group of people can end up adopting an idea .

The Overton window: what is it?

Overton’s window is named after the person who developed the idea: Joseph Overton (1960-2003). He was the vice president of the largest policy research institute in the United States, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, located in Michigan.

Overton used the window metaphor with the intention of transmitting the idea of a narrow and well-defined space, through which we can look at some things and not others . Like any window, it is a structure that is intentionally and strategically built by someone.

For example, it is not the same to put a window with an ocean view, as it is to put one with a view of the interior patio. Whoever builds it and puts it in a place, does so with a certain intention.

In the case of public policies, and the opinions surrounding them, the people who build the window are the groups that have a certain level of authority and political control . That is, these groups are the ones who build and move the windows through which we observe everything that happens around us.

It is a matter of presenting an idea that, although at first it seems unacceptable, can be defended and framed in such a way that it gradually becomes a conceivable idea. Thus, the opinion of those affected or interested by such an idea, can be directed within the margins of the window and the interests of certain political groups.

A Political Theory

What Overton proposed through this metaphor, is that the policies that are considered viable, are thus considered mainly according to the convenience of the politicians , beyond their individual interests.

These policies can be presented in a more or less narrow range, depending on how much society’s opinion varies. Thus, they move in a vertical range according to whether their acceptability can be extended or reduced . As a general rule, the shape of the window makes those who believe in a certain ideological trend only pay attention to certain ideas, and ignore or minimize the importance of the opposing ones.

The Overton window can be moved according to the current interest and according to the possibility of being accepted by a majority. Its boundaries can be made wider or narrower, depending on the idea that it wants to justify itself to the public. That is why it is also known as the “window of opportunity” and the “window of acceptability”.

Public opinion and political ideas

Likewise, this political theory that explains that, beyond the individual references we have about politicians, we tend to accept the political viability of their ideas because they are presented to us with a very narrow range of possibilities.

Such a range means that a public policy (e.g. a measure adopted to manage migration from Mexico to the United States), can change from being considered “unthinkable” to “acceptable”, then “sensible”, “popular”, and finally, as a necessary policy.

In turn, this range of possibilities is adapted according to the characteristics of the citizens and the current state of public opinion , so that the person who proposes them is perceived as a competent politician, or at least not too radical.

Strategically, some ideas can be presented as radical, so that what is “outside the window” is considered moderate and acceptable. Thus, the window can modify its limits and the place towards which we turn, and even the very perception of what we observe.

It can be applied to understand how societies adopt and abandon certain ideas over time, through having been defended with logical, moral and emotional criteria by the political group concerned. Through this metaphor we could analyze different social events and how ideals and practices of all kinds, many of them dangerous, have been legitimized.

Popularity and related works

Although the Overton Window is currently a popular theory, it is also a fairly recent idea. It became a theory in itself after Joseph Overton died as a result of injuries sustained in a plane crash.

Her colleague, Joseph Leman was one of the people who baptized and disseminated her, during the first decade of the 21st century. Based on this idea, there is even a novel called Overton’s Window , one of the best-selling works by the American and political commentator Glenn Beck in the last decade.

Bibliographic references:

  • Mackinac Center for Public Policy. (2018). Authors, Joseph P. Overton. Retrieved May 22, 2018. Available at http://www.mackinac.org/bio.aspx?ID=.
  • Lanchester, J. (2016). Brexit. Dossier of Free Letters. 4: 5-10. Retrieved May 22, 2018. Available at http://www.letraslibres.com/sites/default/files/2016-09/Dosier-lanchester-esp.pdf.