"Critical Thinking" on conceptual topics like 'Democracies...Autocracies...Plutocracies, etc.' like many of our well educated Founding Fathers were.
BTW, Jefferson, Madison, et al, knew the value of education and hence the creation of an "Electoral College" was based in part on seeing such people being 'Electors' who would protect the country from "Populist" candidates who could sway the less-educated in the wrong direction...as has happened with Donald Trump...sadly, many of our Electors were corrupted themselves.