-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: July 16, 2007 7:21:06 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Stealing the Far Right's Weapons -- How to Limit the
"Frame" of Acceptable Ideas
THE POLITICAL WINDOW OF ACCEPTANCE
joe_at_rockridge (Rockridge Institute staff member) July 16, 2007
02:17 PM
http://www.rockridgenation.org/blog/archive/2007/07/16/thinking-
points-discussion-the-political-window-of-acceptance
Many political strategists on the right promote the use of extreme
positions to make the ones they seek to achieve appear more
reasonable. At the same time, strategists on the left have
encouraged candidates to "move toward the center" to win swing
votes. The right has successfully shifted political discourse in
their favor. Progressives can shift the debate back to the left by
understanding how the political mind works.
Conservatives have successfully shifted political discourse in
their favor.
Our work at the Rockridge Institute is devoted to empowering
progressives to reverse this trend through knowledge from the
cognitive sciences. In this article I would like to present the
analytical technique called the Overton Window created by Joe
Overton of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a right-wing
think tank devoted to privatization of public schools.
Some progressives, including a Daily Kos blogger, have promoted
this technique as a way for progressives to shift public discourse
back to the left. It has been described on Wikipedia and is
discussed on this website. One thing that is missing from these
presentations is how it works! The strengths (and limitations) of
the Overton Window can only be seen when we talk about it in the
context of the human brain.
The Overton Window: What is it?
Public opinion changes regularly. At any given time, there are some
ideas that are acceptable and others that are radically
unacceptable. The Overton Window is the range of ideas that are
considered to be acceptable at the moment. The clever idea behind
this is that it is possible to shift this window of acceptability.
There is a range of possible reactions to an idea (such as
universal health care):
Unthinkable
Radical
Acceptable
Sensible
Popular
Policy
At any given time, the idea of having universal health care will be
at one of these locations. Overton described a method for moving
that window, thereby including previously excluded ideas, while
excluding previously acceptable ideas. The technique relies on
people promoting ideas even less acceptable than the previous
"outer fringe" ideas, making those old fringe ideas look less
extreme, and thereby acceptable.
Pictorial View
This graphic illustrates the reality that right now the window has
been shifted far to the right. As progressives learn to reframe the
debate, we can shift it back to the left -- only if we know how.
How it Works
The thing that is lacking in previous presentations of the Overton
Window is an explanation of how the brain makes this shift
possible. It has to do with framing and metaphors. Let's start with
the metaphors for the window itself.
The Linear Metaphor
In chapter 2 of Thinking Points, the idea of an ideological center
is shown to have limitations - discussed further here. One of the
metaphors used to make sense of the center is the linear metaphor,
which is the notion that people are lined up from left to right in
their political orientation. This line-up is understood differently
for the Overton Window, where levels of public acceptance are
placed on a line from left to right.
The Window Metaphor
The range of acceptable values is understood as being a window that
can slide from left to right. This window is continuous, meaning
there is not a single value within that range that is excluded.
The Reference Point
In order to shift the metaphorical window, there needs to be a
shift of acceptability. How does it happen? The idea is that a new
reference point for considering options must be created. If an
extreme view is presented several times, it conditions the
discussion by making less extreme versions of the same argument
appear more reasonable by comparison.
Putting all of these components together we start to get an idea of
how the concept works. But we still don't know what the reference
points are or how the repetition of extreme versions of the
position can shift the window. This is the most important part!
What's Missing?
The thing that is missing is the set of mechanisms involved in
creating a new reference point and shifting the concepts involved.
This is where an understanding of the brain is so important. It is
necessary to know that ideas must be wired in our brains to be part
of our thoughts. The neural wirings get stronger each time they are
used. Thus the need to repeat the extreme idea. It evokes the frame
that makes sense of the idea and reinforces the neural connections
that allow it to exist in your brain.
Correction to Overton Window
It is not really the case that the extreme view is "compared" with
the less extreme view. The reality is that the frame that supports
the extreme view is reinforced in the brain, which makes all
versions of this idea (including less extreme versions) more
"reasonable" because they are easier to think of.
As progressive frames are repeated, the ideas carried with them
become more familiar to people. For example, the idea that
government is meant to protect citizens from harm starts to make
sense as the way government is (and should be) - but only if it is
said often by several people. This is how the idea becomes more
acceptable, not because it is compared to a "more extreme" version.
Another thing that is not mentioned at all in the Overton Window
technique, but is widely used by conservatives, is to repeatedly
use negative stereotypes to describe the progressive side of the
argument. This is where the "extreme" view appears. In the process,
a negative impression is built up around the people who support the
progressive argument. The negative environmentalist stereotype for
"tree huggers" is an example of this. People do not want to
identify with the negative stereotype. At the same time, they are
attracted to positive stereotypes used to promote the conservative
position.
Progressives can do this too. We can point out the negative
stereotypes for conservative positions while promoting positive
stereotypes for progressives. But it will not be successful if we
don't get the framing right.
Another thing that is missing is the understanding that people have
two different moral worldviews based on metaphors of the family. If
the nurturant family concepts are more active, the person will take
progressive positions on issues. If the strict father family
concepts are more active, the person will take conservative
positions on issues. The fact that both sets of concepts are
present in people (explaining how a progressive can understand most
war movies and conservatives can understand most family dramas)
tells us that we need to use frames that evoke the moral worldview
of progressives.
Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com.
www.ctrl.org
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