This post by Chinmay Karande on Threads brought my attention to the Overtun window
But the catch: Without the progressives still fighting those (then seemingly hopeless) fights 20 years ago, the progress on those issues today’s wouldn’t happen. Playing for progress and losing, still moves the Overton window, which is a pre-requisite for any actual change.
To progressives, this must feel bleak, a thankless job. But it is how it is. Assuming their cause has timeless merit, someday they will win if they sign up to lose till then.
The Week explains the Overtun window.
The concept is used to describe the range of ideas that voters find acceptable and “outside which lie political exile or pariahdom”, explains Politico.
The theory is that politicians are limited in what policies they can support as they risk losing voters if they pursue ideas that are not seen as legitimate options by society.
…
“Politicians respond to the public’s definition of the window, not the other way around,” it says.
As Lehman explains, politicians are “in the business of detecting where the window is, and then moving to be in accordance with it”.