This text is part of the contents of the first book by ECOAR))) and will go on sale at the end of this year, 2026. Winning the Narrative! Manual for Combating the Far-Right Discourse.
From this perspective, it can be affirmed that common sense is not an indicator of intelligence or rationality, but an indicator of belonging. People do not believe what they believe because it is true, but because their group teaches them to believe it, and because believing it is the most direct way of remaining part of an “us”. That is why changing a person’s common sense is not a matter of giving them better data and logic; it is a matter of making them change group or making their group change its norms. The contemporary far-right has perfectly understood that power is not won by convincing people with reasons and data, but by giving them a new identity, a new group of belonging, and a new common sense. It does not ask voters to analyse the data; it asks them to recognise themselves in an “us” that fights against a “them”.
The key concept for creating this transition and shifting the common sense of the social majority is the Overton Window. This explains the mechanism that describes the gradual process by which ideas go from being “unthinkable” to becoming “common sense”. The Overton Window refers to the range of opinions that a person or organisation can publicly express without being disqualified.
Thus, the Overton Window is graphically represented as a rectangular frame (the window frame, which represents the set of ideas that, at that specific moment in history, are considered politically acceptable, debatable, and viable by the majority of society) that slowly moves along a straight line (a line that represents the spectrum of all possible political ideas, from the most “liberal” to the most “authoritarian”). The key to the theory is that the window is not fixed; it moves. Ideas that are inside the window are those that the political class can openly defend without being socially sanctioned. Those outside are considered “radical” or “unthinkable”, and those who defend them are seen as extremists or a social danger.
Overton divided this spectrum into six categories, through which the window moves, ranging from the most rejected idea to the most accepted: unthinkable (ideas considered so radical or unacceptable that they are not even discussed, since mentioning them is social suicide), radical (ideas discussed in marginal circles, but rejected by the majority of society as dangerous), acceptable (ideas with much controversy that begin to be discussed, but are not yet popular), sensible (ideas seen as practical and reasonable), popular (ideas supported by the majority of the population), and common-sense policy (ideas assumed as natural and about which there is no debate, as they are the basis of social consensus).
The shifting of the window to the right or to the left does not happen by chance; rather, its movement is driven by agents of change (think tanks, academics, media, activists, social movements, social leaders, crises, or triggering events…). A common mistake is to think that the political class are the ones who move the window, but the reality is that they simply climb onto it and let themselves be carried along, because if a politician defends an idea that is outside the window, they lose votes, whereas if the idea is inside, the politician can support it without risk.
And how is the window shifted? Overton defined a sequence of 5 steps that describes how an idea moves from marginality to legal implementation.
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From Unthinkable to Radical. The first step is to introduce the idea into public debate. To do this, strategies used include: defending the most extreme version of the idea to capture attention and challenge existing norms, generating thought and research from think tanks or academic circles to give it legitimacy, using provocative language or euphemisms that disguise the radical nature of the proposal…
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From Radical to Acceptable. In this phase, the idea begins to be discussed without being automatically rejected. The strategy focuses on: creating a diverse coalition of support to amplify the message, using the “foot-in-the-door technique” (defending a more moderate version of an idea or a related policy that is easier to accept, to pave the way), stigmatising the opposition to silence criticism…
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From Acceptable to Sensible. The idea gradually settles in and begins to be seen as a practical and reasonable solution. To achieve this, the strategies are: appealing to the public’s values and identity by presenting the idea as aligned with their “common sense”, personalising the debate by showing concrete cases of people who would benefit from the measure to generate empathy, normalising the idea by presenting it as progress or an inevitable trend through the media and popular culture…
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From Sensible to Popular. At this point, the idea already has broad social support. The political class sees the issue as “safe” and begins to openly support it. The main strategy in this phase is to demonstrate that it is the majority opinion, publishing polls and studies that show its social backing.
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From Popular to Policy. The final objective is its implementation as law or public policy. During this phase, public opinion data is presented to policy-makers to demonstrate that supporting it is an electorally intelligent move, while all possible channels are used to maintain pressure and visibility, forcing legislators to act.
The Overton Window simply makes us aware that what we currently consider “normal” and “sensible” is the result of a long cultural battle, and that what we today consider “extremist” could be tomorrow’s law if the right agents manage to shift the window. The far-right does not win because there is an inevitable “natural” trend; it wins because, for too long, the rest of the political forces assumed that common sense was something already consolidated and did not fight the cultural battle. Not taking a position on the shifting of the window is, in practice, facilitating its movement. There is no possible neutrality, for every idea that is not fought or that is neglected is one more step in the shifting of common sense towards the far-right framework.