EOTO 2 Theories Presentations

 Analyzing information heavily research from your peers can be critical to growing one's knowledge on a particular topic. Last week we were able to listen to our fellow students discuss a variety of differing topics that play key impacts in our political sphere. The one that I found most intriguing that sparked my interest was the political theory of the Overton Window. My fellow classmate Chris would dive deep into this theory explaining the background, the implications, and overall how it has changed throughout the years.

 This theory was developed in the mid-1990s by Joseph Overton who was a political analyst and the Vice President at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. He created a theory after years of studying and research on politics. This theory states "The spectrum of ideas on public policy and social issues consider to be acceptable by the general public at a given time". The idea states that any policy falling outside of

Overton Window is out of step with the current public opinion and the current political climax taking place in the country. Throughout years and elections, there may be a shift in what appears to be acceptable in the eye of the public. We have seen these changes take place throughout our history in many different ways. 

There are many implications that arose due to the creation of the Overton Window. The first is that it allows for the creation of public policy as legislation is shaped through public acceptance. In our form of government today, the people can vote on certain laws that have been created by their state or local government to state if they want a certain law. When they are participating in this act they are using the Overton window when deciding on the law. If they are unhappy, they can write to their local representative and call for a change to take place.  Another implication falls to the negative side when deciding when to either expand or limit the scope of the Overton Window which needs to be taken with immense care. A push to one side can be called for political polarization where each side it pulling away from the other, which as we've seen time and time again doesn't solve anything. The diagram shows when we stay toward the middle, we can get a lot more done in many aspects of policy and perceptions.

The Overton Window theory is a very critical theory in the world of government and politics. As it is a driving force to our legislation while allowing the American people to be able to voice their concerns in times of need and keep the policies when they appear to be working.