It’s great when ideas take on a life of their own. That’s what happened with the Overton Window.
The late Mackinac Center Senior Vice President Joe Overton developed the idea to address a concern from prospective donors: Why should they give money to the Mackinac Center when it doesn’t have the power to change anything? Politicians have the power to pass laws, so wouldn’t interested citizens have more influence by donating to political campaigns?
The insight Joe Overton brought to these questions was simple but important. Politicians cannot pass whatever legislation they like. They find themselves bound by what is popular, or at least their sense of it. They can only pass legislation within a narrow set of ideas. And he called that range “the window of political possibilities.”
Some things cannot be enacted. The public just isn’t ready for them, and any legislative champion who calls for them never gets far. Many good ideas are unpopular, unheard of, or unfashionable.
A think tank such as the Mackinac Center can do something about that. We can inform, persuade and rally people around issues. We can show people how our issues affect the things that they care about. We can find interesting insights into policies. We try to inspire or raise people’s concerns about state policy. And if we are successful, we can transform an idea that was politically impossible into something that is inevitable.
It used to be that the only conversation policymakers had about public education was how much more money they should give public schools each year. Students were placed in their nearest government-run schools. That was the whole of education policy for most school-age children.
We came along and made the case that giving parents more options for their kids would improve outcomes. Eventually policymakers did just that. Schools opened themselves up to anyone who wanted to attend, even if that meant crossing assigned boundaries. Innovation-minded educators opened charter schools and then expanded them.
What was once impossible became possible and then policy.
This window of political possibilities is a useful concept. It helped potential supporters understand that a lot goes into policy. It’s not just about electing the right people.
The Mackinac Center spread the word about the window of political possibilities. We enjoyed the chance to tell up-and-coming organizations about the window. We are part of the Atlas Network, which supports policy organizations around the world. Our colleagues in the network would bring people to Midland for training on the business of running a think tank and making a difference in policy. Naturally, we’d share some of the insights about the window of political possibilities.
The word got out from there. It wasn’t just something we used with donors; people around the world grabbed ahold of it.
Joe Overton died in a tragic ultralight plane crash in 2003. He left an important legacy for us at the Mackinac Center. And we chose to honor him by calling the concept he pioneered the Overton Window.
Many people find that “Overton Window” is a much catchier name than “window of political possibilities.” Hardly a week goes by without someone in the national discourse mentioning it. The Overton Window appears in many arenas outside politics, too.
Sports writers say that baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani shifted the Overton Window for teams looking at players who can both bat and pitch.
Automotive industry critics refer to the Overton Window when discussing whether motorists will tolerate subscription fees for heated seats.
Tech commenters worry that the Overton Window prevents them from raising concerns about artificial intelligence.
Those examples come from this fall alone.
We didn’t reach out to these people; they stumbled upon the idea themselves. But we want everyone to know how to use the concept. That’s why we started a podcast where we look at issues around the country and talk to the people who change what is politically possible.
Guests have included people at other think tanks, cartoonists, editorialists, talk show hosts, lawyers, environmentalists, judges and others.
The Overton Window has gotten a lot of attention. It’s a useful concept, and we want to help people get more use out of it.
