Saving Democracy with Circles Theory

Big Hearts and Big Minds: Simple Cognitive Frames for the Big Circle, Pro-Democracy Left


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SDCT0006: Democracy is a form of government that involves a big circle of social accommodation embracing the majority of a nation’s citizens. It upholds the will of the majority, unlike its right-wing counterpart, which counterbalances the majority by upholding the will of an elitist minority, or of powerful individuals, or a set of laws such as the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Big circles of cognitive accommodation, the “big circle cognitive style,” is seen more on the left side of the political spectrum, and focuses on systems of interconnected parts, whereas the small circle right side of the spectrum emphasizes individual parts working independently. This makes effective framing of political ideas more difficult on the left, and easier on the right: it takes fewer words to describe individual units of information than interconnected systems. This episode suggests that those on the political left should emphasize the moral values of “big hearts and big minds” exemplified by Jesus Christ and other big circle heroes and patriots. It also suggests promoting the historical significance of the color blue in the fight for democracy, and the color red in historical attacks against democracy, ranging from those of King George III to the former Soviet Union.
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Saving Democracy with Circles TheoryBy Daniel Dodge