Overton Window

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The Overton window is the range of policies politically acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time. It is also known as the window of discourse.

American policy analyst Joseph Overton proposed that an idea's political viability depends mainly on whether it falls within this range, rather than on politicians' individual preferences. According to Overton, the window frames the range of policies that a politician can recommend without appearing too extreme to gain or keep public office given the climate of public opinion at that time.

Political commentator Joshua Treviño has postulated that the six degrees of acceptance of public ideas are roughly:

• Unthinkable
• Radical
• Acceptable
• Sensible
• Popular
• Policy