The Overton Window

Mackinac Center for Public Policy•www.mackinac.org

Have you noticed that politicians struggle to enact the things they run on? They find themselves bound by what is popular, or at least their sense of it. The narrow range of policies that they can enact is called the Overton Window. The Overton Window podcast looks at issues around the country and the people changing what is politically possible.

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‘There is a misconception that elections are about convincing people on issues. ... Elections are how we keep score on issues.’

Adrian Hemond on campaigning and what it means for next year’s policy

Nov 04, 2022

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The Overton Window

Episodes

‘They delivered on what they said they were going to do’

‘I don’t appear to have any effect at all on most Republican office holders but I’m not going to stop trying’

‘Decarbonization has really thrown a wrench into the gears’

‘It’s the message that hopefully I can carry on behalf of Michigan families’

‘It’s not like the auto industry ever wanted something from the state government and didn’t get it’

‘What we have now is a system that’s run by politicians, and it works poorly’

‘That’s the art form and that’s what I love about it’

‘It just shows the power of small things to make big impacts’

‘There is a misconception that elections are about convincing people on issues. ... Elections are how we keep score on issues.’

‘We’re going to give every kid the option to pursue the best education possible’

‘How is this policy tough on crime if they’re not charging people with crimes?’

‘It’s really great to see that states are prioritizing cutting taxes instead of just growing government’

‘There’s a tax break industrial complex that’s got everybody hornswoggled’

‘In today’s world your email address and your cell phone numbers are digital currency’

‘I know this from the colorful mail I receive from readers’

‘There’s a lot of reasons for skepticism.’

‘Show the effects that bad policy has on individuals’

‘It’s no different than building a network of friends’

‘That’s wrong. It’s morally wrong. It’s economically wrong. It’s just bad policy.’

‘Not yet, but we’re close’

'Transparency is for government and privacy is for people'

‘Powers that no one had exercised before’

‘You keep grinding and grinding and grinding — it's almost like a rugby scrum —until there is that opening’

'These past two years in general really show you that when parents band together they can really push for change'

‘At the start, it had nothing to do with policy, it was about us understanding the issue’

‘They are trying to juggle all these different values and different demands.’

‘People will vote for the party that does not raise their taxes.’

'Remember When We Thought Cellphones Were Going to Cause Brain Cancer?'

“Get Out There, Motivate Others, And Do What You Believe In”

“Don’t Stop. Keep Talking to People. Keep Promoting the Idea.”