Figures

1.1 U.S. Democracy Trends 2007-2024

2.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs

2.2 Examples of Selected Basic Formal Logic

2.3 The Scientific Method

2.4 The Process of Critical Thinking

2.5 Poor-Thinking Tendencies

2.6 Characteristics of a Good Critical Thinker

2.7 A Comprehensive Critical-Thinking Framework

2.8 The Research Spectrum

2.8 Example Output Matrix Model

2.10 “Which U.S. Immigration Policy to Support?” Matrix Model

2.11 Cascading Threat Model: Immigration Policy Example

2.12 Checklist for Intellectual Standards

3.1 Where Our Information Comes From

3.2 Categories of Knowledge

3.3 Prioritizing Open-Source Searches

3.4 Classifying Scholarly/Professional and Media Reporting

3.5 Selected Think Tank Political Orientations

3.6 Selected Popular Media Bias Analysis

3.7 Checklist for Assessing Information

3.8 Template for Quality of Information Checks

4.1 Summary of Fast and Slow Thinking

4.2 Selected Cognitive Biases Commonly Found in Politics

4.3 Logical Argumentation (Argument Mapping)

4.4 Argument Mapping Example

4.5 Argument Map: Opposition to 2022 Increased IRS Funding

5.1 Institutions of Political Polyarchy

5.2 Broken Norms leading to Democratic Decline

6.1 Theoretical Foundations of Political Cultures

6.2 Empirical Conditions Correlating with Political Cultures

6.3 Selected World Political Cultures by Country (2024 Data)

7.1 Human Mental Model

7.2 Four Ways of Seeing

7.3 Four (Nine) Ways of Seeing Example: Immigration Views

7.4 Assumptions Analysis: Immigration Views

8.1 A Comprehensive Critical-Thinking Framework (Fig. 2.6 copy)

8.2 “Which Political Candidate to Vote For?” Matrix Model

8.3 “Which Political Candidate to Vote For?” Initial Findings

8.4 Cascading Threat Model: Threats to Democracy