Overton Window

The Overton Window is a political theory developed by Joe Overton, then an officer of the Michigan's Mackinac Center for Pubic Policy, a think tank so right-wing it verges on Libertarian.

The Window is the range of public policy measures that voters consider "acceptable". Overton's contribution is the idea that political activists can move this window by proposing completely outrageous ideas that have no hope of enactment - but gradually move the window of acceptability to the right or the left. Once you have moved the window in your direction, you can then win approval for only slightly less outrageous policies - which would not have been acceptable previously.

A recent example of this is the reaction to the NY Times story that the Pentagon has actively maintained a cadre of retired officers who became the taking heads on network broadcasts about the Iraq War. These officers could be relied on to give the Pentagon's point of view and actively slant coverage in favor of the war. As stated in a Pentagon memo:

"This trusted core group will be more than willing to work closely with us because we are their bread and butter and the more they know, the more valuable they are to the networks"

As outrageous as this story is, it died almost instantaneously, except for the usual bloggers. Where the Overton Window comes into this is the theory that the story died because the public already assumes the Government manipulates the media, therefore this is not news.

For seven years, the Bush Administration has pushed the Overton Window so far towards Authoritarianism that government-sponsored propaganda, torture, and warrantless spying are now considered acceptable rather than abhorrent.