The Overton window, also known as the discourse window, is a range of ideas that are tolerated in public discourse. The term comes from its originator, Joseph P. Overton, former vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, whose description of his window claims that the ideological continuity depends mainly on whether he falls within the window, rather than on individual preferences of politicians. According to Overton's description, the window includes a set of politically acceptable policies in the current climate of public opinion, which can be recommended by a politician without being considered too extreme to obtain or retain public office.
Video Overton window
Summary
Overton describes the spectrum of "more free" to "less free" in terms of government intervention, oriented vertically on the axis, to avoid comparison with the left-right political spectrum. As the spectrum moves or expands, ideas in a particular location can become more or less politically acceptable. Political commentator Joshua TreviÃÆ'Â ± o postulates that the degree of acceptance of public ideas is roughly:
- Unimaginable
- Radicals
- Acceptable
- Makes sense
- Popular
- Policy
The Overton window is an approach to identifying ideas that define the receiving domain in government policies that may be democratic. Supporters of policy outside the window seek to persuade or educate the public to move and/or expand the window. Current policy advocates, or similar, in windows seek to convince people that the policy beyond that should be considered unacceptable.
After Overton's death, others have examined the concept of window adjustment with the promotion of deliberate ideas beyond it, or the idea of ​​"outside the periphery", with the aim of making fewer fringe ideas acceptable by comparison. Persuasion techniques â € Å"into-in-faceâ € similar.
Maps Overton window
Historical precedence
This idea echoes some of the earlier phrases, the most recent and equally academic being Hallin's ball. In his book 1986 The Uncensored War , communications scholar Daniel C. Hallin posited three areas of media coverage in which a topic could fall. These areas are described as concentric circles called spheres. From the deepest to the outermost they are the scope of consensus, the sphere of legal controversy, and the scope of deviation. Proposals and positions can be placed at various levels of distance from the metaphorical center, and political actors can scramble and help change this position.
Hallin's theory was developed and applied primarily as a theory that explains the various levels of objectivity in media coverage, but also explains the ongoing contest among media and other political actors about what is considered a legitimate disagreement, potentially leading to a change of boundary between the balls. As one study applying Hallin's theory explains, "the boundary between the three fields is dynamic, depending on the political climate and the editorial lines of various media". In this way, this idea also captures the tug-of-war between the boundaries between normal and perverted political discourse.
An idea similar to the Overton window was expressed by Anthony Trollope in 1868 in his novel Phineas Finn:
"Many have previously considered the law to be ridiculous, will now assume that it is only dangerous, or perhaps not more difficult, so in time it will be seen as one possible, then among the things that may occur - and will eventually range in the list of some actions the state needs as absolutely necessary.That is the way public opinion is made. "
"This is not a loss of time," Phineas said, "has taken the first major step in making it."
"The first major step has been taken for a long time," the monk said, - "taken by people who are regarded as a revolutionary demagogue, almost as traitors, as those who take it, but it is remarkable to take any steps. so on. "
In his Emancipation "Western India Emancipation" speech in Canandaigua, New York, in 1857, the abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass described how public opinion limits the ability of those in power to act with impunity:
Find out what will be secretly subservient to others and you have found the right size of injustice and mistakes that will be applied to them, and this will continue until they are rejected with words or punches, or with both. The tyrant limit is determined by their oppressed endurance.
See also
References
External links
- Pilgrim, Mark (August 23, 2006). "W3C and Overton windows - including a clear explanation". Selami Mark. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
- Diagram of the Overton window as described by Joseph Overton
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments