The Overton Window

What you're allowed to think is a window. Someone, critics note, owns the frame.

Joseph Overton (Mackinac Center, 1990s) described the window of politically acceptable policy; the concept is standard political science shorthand. Its conspiracy usage inverts it: the window as something deliberately walked by coordinated media exposure. Documented cases of engineered acceptability exist (tobacco doubt campaigns, per the Master Settlement documents), giving the strong version its footing. Links manufactured consent and social engineering.