Higher Education and Democracy Initiative

Maintaining the Balance: Investigating the Language of Political Extremism on the Western Slope

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 17:14:16 +0000

Maintaining the Balance: Investigating the Language of Political Extremism on the Western Slope Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 04/30/2025 - 11:14

Elaina Caywood

Amid rising political polarization, a team of CU �鶹ӰԺ researchers partner with community organizations on Colorado’s Western Slope to examine how language, activism and civic engagement intersect in the fight against political extremism.

A study by David Rozado and Eric Kaufmann shows that U.S. news outlets increasingly use terms that denote far-right and far-left extremists, regardless of their political leanings. News outlets have increasingly used extremist terms and language since 2015, with a rapid increase since 2019. The study demonstrates a strong polarizing dynamic regarding how news outlets discuss political extremism. Polarization can result in a communicative standstill.

How can people discuss politics without falling into extremist language? And how can news outlets and public forums maintain their neutrality when referencing instances of political extremism? These are tough questions, but we can look to the work of Leah Sprain and her team, who conduct community-engaged research surrounding the language of political extremism on Colorado’s Western Slope.

The work originated during Sprain’s fellowship with the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship’s Higher Education and Democracy Initiative (HEDI) and community partners on the Western Slope. One group that particularly interested Sprain and her team was Restore the Balance.

Restore the Balance is a group with members from across the political spectrum. According to its website, the group works together for the purpose of “building an alternative to political extremism” through their political candidate rankings, petitions and letters to the editor, which can be found on their website.

Leah Sprain speaks to former congressional candidate Adam Frisch and PACES executive director David Meens at the Upper Colorado River Basin Water Forum at Colorado Mesa University, Oct. 30-31, 2023.

“They [Restore the Balance] try to bring together a group of people to think differently about how they engage in politics,” explained Sprain. “That effort really sparked this research project—thinking about how to make sense of when community groups try to call out things in their community.”

Calling out extremism within the Western Slope resonated with the community, drawing people to Restore the Balance meetings and encouraging responses to their petitions. Since its inception in 2022, Restore the Balance has gained 2,974 signatures for their pledge to address political extremism. However, the universal approach of Restore the Balance didn’t so easily “jibe with local politics.” The more the group tried to call out extremism, the more critics called them extremists.

Sprain’s research provokes questions surrounding the trade-offs of calling out extremism. While the effort deeply connects with many people, it also faces certain types of politicization, which could dampen the message. Should people accept this, or are there ways to work against these phenomena without using the language of extremism?

By analyzing Restore the Balance and Letters to the Editor in Grand Junction’s The Daily Sentinel, Sprain expands her view into the community’s conversation. These differing media outlets help frame research questions about what political extremism means to people on the Western Slope, what it means to address it, and more broadly, “how people think about democracy in times of crises.”

Given the nature of political communication, the research team takes an interdisciplinary approach. Professor of Journalism Mike McDevitt focuses on media aspects of communication, Associate Chair of Political Science Janet Donovan examines the political aspects, and Associate Professor of Communication Leah Sprain leads the team. The team also studies political theory approaches and measures laid out by Rod Hartin his book Civic Hope to compare Hart’s observations with their own observations made on the Western Slope.

“We look at the language of extremism and the dynamics within Restore the Balance and the Letters to the Editor,” said Sprain. “We can trace how people discussed political extremism before and after the creation of Restore the Balance and how the community reacted. From those reactions, we explore who gets called an extremist, the discursive practices around it, and what it means to think of political extremists as a category.”

To better understand some of these issues, the team engaged the CU �鶹ӰԺ community. By directly involving students, they gained valuable insight into the opinions of a younger generation of politically-engaged people. During Donovan’s fall 2024 class focused on civic engagement, political science students reacted to some concepts of civic hope and political extremism, analyzed Letters to the Editor and even wrote their own letters. By comparing the ideas generated by CU �鶹ӰԺ students with those in the Letters to the Editor—written primarily by older, white men—the team observed different perspectives about civic engagement. From this, new questions arose, such as: What makes a good community member or political conversation? Are these ideas tied to generational aspects? Connecting this back to the political situation in Grand Junction, these insights sparked discussions about which political theories are most relevant and useful when tackling political extremism today.

“We’re trying to take the research through all the ways in which students can help us think about these concepts and how we can generate pedagogical insights from that engagement,” explained Sprain.

CU �鶹ӰԺ students both challenged and affirmed the concept of civic hope, which contributed to their development of the concept. In turn, they learned about the relationship between internal efficacy — the extent to which people think they can make a difference in politics — to the broader notion of civic hope. These pedagogical and political insights from the students will be presented by Donovan at a regional political science conference this April.

Sprain’s previous work with Restore the Balance, during her HEDI Fellowship, examined what organization members were trying to accomplish, how they had responded to political events in their community and how best to communicate their responses. The team’s current research seeks to further understand the organization’s goals and develop approaches to addressing political extremism.

“Restore the Balance is deciding what kind of organization they want to be. So, thinking about this research might help them figure out their own issues. We’re asking questions they might not immediately consider,” said Sprain.

Through this model of community engagement, Sprain’s team collaborates with other groups on the Western Slope, such as the League of Women Voters. “Community-engaged research keeps us from being narrowly focused and allows us to think about how this research might address broader questions surrounding strategies for organizing and conducting civic work,” Sprain reflected.

Another aspect of this project involves writing workshops with people at Restore the Balance. In April, the team shared initial findings with the Restore the Balance board to observe their reactions, creating a reciprocal exchange in which the researchers learned more about community perspectives while those at Restore the Balance enjoyed a conversation that helped inform their ongoing civic work.

Following the success of their April workshop, the team will continue to plan more workshops for the fall. Their goal is to share their empirical research while involving the community, gauging reactions, and generating a productive conversation about the language of political extremism.

These conversations will help situate political dynamics within the community context so that academic insights don’t stand alone but become part of the communal conversation, all while maintaining an open, bipartisan attitude.

“The workshops will bring people together and allow them to talk across different perspectives,” Sprain described. “As researchers, we sincerely hold space for a broader range of reactions, as our research can benefit from these different perspectives, much like how democracy can benefit from multiple perspectives.”

This work raises big, important questions. While the research remains in the question-asking phase, the most important part is asking these questions and learning how to best engage communities in political conversations.

“So many parts of civic life and community democracy feel difficult and fraught. Because of what’s happening on the national level, many people are turning locally,” reflected Sprain. “I hope this effort provides research that helps people think about which types of civic action respond most effectively to what’s happening in their communities.”

As Sprain and her team continue researching political extremism on the Western Slope, we can all meditate on how best to participate in civic action without resorting to political extremist language. This engaged research is ongoing but will hopefully result in valuable insights that can help us navigate daily, changing political interactions.

To stay informed about Sprain’s work on political extremism on the Western Slope, visit the project website, Overcoming Extremism: Visibility and Voice on the Western Slope.

Amid rising political polarization, a team of CU �鶹ӰԺ researchers partner with community organizations on Colorado’s Western Slope to examine how language, activism and civic engagement intersect in the fight against political extremism.

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Members of the Restore the Balance board. Photo Credit: Restore the Balance

Higher Education and Democracy Fellows Lead Election Education Efforts

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 19:22:58 +0000

Higher Education and Democracy Fellows Lead Election Education Efforts Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 11/20/2024 - 12:22

Gretchen Minekime

This month special recognition goes out to the PACES Higher Education and Democracy Fellows for their phenomenal work leading up to and following the election.

Current fellows Janet Donavan, Leah Sprain and Christina Stanton, and former fellows Doug Spencer and Matt Burgess, dedicated many hours each to help inform students, faculty, staff and members of the public about election-related issues and to encourage voting. Here are some of their accomplishments within CU �鶹ӰԺ’s election engagement efforts.

Donavan and Sprain organized watch parties for the presidential and vice-presidential debates, including a pre-vice-presidential-debate panel, which was coordinated with the Chancellor’s Office, student government, the College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI), the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Conference on World Affairs. The panel and the debate were livestreamed and available to the public. Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction and Fort Lewis College in Durango organized watch parties on their campuses for the panels and vice-presidential debate.

Under Stanton’s leadership, Colorado Law’s American Indian Law Clinic traveled to South Dakota to conduct voter protection activities. Donovan, Stanton, and Sprain also served on CU �鶹ӰԺ’s All-in Challenge Committee and organized public events, in multiple Colorado locations, about voting rights and Constitutional Law.

Back on campus, Stanton recruited student volunteers who conducted voter education classroom visits, with an emphasis on first-year students and others who have historically registered and voted at lower rates than our campus average. These visits, alongside the efforts of non-profit partner New Era Colorado, ultimately reached more than 12,000 students.

Past fellow Doug Spencer joined county clerks from �鶹ӰԺ and Weld Counties for a special filming of the PBS program Colorado Inside Out at Mackey Auditorium.

Past fellow Matt Burgess, who has since moved to the University of Wyoming, continues to coordinate a monthly polarization dialogue series, which includes CU �鶹ӰԺ representatives along with others from colleges, universities and communities around the Rocky Mountain West.

During an election year filled with particularly strong emotions, a sense that civil discourse is more challenging than ever and a lack of confidence in media and information, the fellows’ leadership was indispensable.

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Higher Education and Democracy Fellows 2024

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Demonstrative democracy: At forum, students show energy, curiosity about engaging with politics

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 21:15:06 +0000

Demonstrative democracy: At forum, students show energy, curiosity about engaging with politics Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 10/02/2024 - 15:15

Joe Arney

In sports, it’s often said, offense wins games, but defense wins championships. For Cody Walizer, when it comes to politics, that’s inverted—good defense can win a debate, but it’s offense that wins elections.

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2024 Election Engagement

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 16:48:26 +0000

2024 Election Engagement Arielle Wiedenbeck Mon, 08/26/2024 - 10:48

Gretchen Minekime

The Higher Education and Democracy Initiative catalyzes university-community partnerships and elevates public and community-engaged scholarship that addresses pressing civic challenges.

This election season the initiative is helping CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty, staff and graduate students to:

Secure funding through a special call for proposals to support projects that engage and educate communities external to the university on topics relevant to the 2024 election.
Learn about activities and events that faculty, staff and graduate students are undertaking with Colorado communities leading up to the 2024 election.
Connect with colleagues already working with Colorado communities on issues related to American politics, election law, voting rights and mis-and disinformation.

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Empowering Native Voices: The Natives Vote Initiative

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 19:32:54 +0000

Empowering Native Voices: The Natives Vote Initiative Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 11/29/2023 - 12:32

Gabby McConnell

In 2018, a change in North Dakota’s voter ID requirements posed a potential threat to the voting rights of tribal members. In response, the Natives Vote team, a collaborative effort including the American Indian Law Clinic at Colorado Law, First Peoples Worldwide, IllumiNative and Native Organizers Alliance, was launched to address the unique challenges faced by Native communities in exercising their right to vote. Funding from these partners and the Office for Outreach and Engagement makes this program’s initiatives possible. The American Indian Law Clinic’s work has two focuses: one being a website to educate potential votes, the second being an onsite presence to intervene when elections are not being run properly.

Christina Stanton, director of American Indian Law Clinic, inherited work on the Native Voter Education project from the previous director, Carla Fredericks, integrating their knowledge of Indian Country and United States voting laws. The opportunity for Frederick to pass the baton to Stanton emphasizes the importance of working in coalition, motivating both parties to succeed and continue their work with Native communities.

“There were a bunch of resources for people to gain literacy about how to get to the polls and what the voting requirements were for each state. None were targeted specifically for Native voters,” said Stanton.

The goal of the Natives Vote team was to come together as organizations familiar with Indian Country and to develop a specific product for Native voters to help get out their vote and amplify their voices. First Peoples Worldwide, IllumiNative and Native Organizers Alliance worked with the American Indian Law Clinic to develop the Natives Vote website ensuring that casting a vote can be simple.

The Natives Vote website offers assistance with registration, mail-in ballot information and clarifies the proper identification to bring to the polls. The website shares the laws of each state, which requires extensive research because the laws are constantly changing. The clinic begins updating the website with law changes and other relevant information in early fall and continues through election day. The work of the initiative’s partners is a continual process of making sure everything is up-to-date while assessing the needs of voters. Many states are adapting and giving voters options for how to cast their ballots. Although every state has absentee voting, there are still obstacles in certain states that may prevent one from voting at the polls. For example, voting in person means facing long lines, limited poll locations, specific identification requirements and inadequate poll-worker training.

CU �鶹ӰԺ staff and law students also worked alongside coalitions to conduct assessments through poll observations on and around different reservations. The needs of every state are captured on the website, but poll observations are conducted primarily in states where the need is most significant. Doing so ensures that people living in areas with restrictive voting laws and practices can vote.

“Giving people access to the ballot box is critical for any election,” said Stanton, “We want everyone to be able to have a voice in this democracy. Being able to go somewhere, have no barriers and have your tribal ID accepted is so important.”

Emiliano Salazar (’23), Spencer Garcia (’24) and Kelsea Suarez (’23) stand in front of a voting location at the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota.

In 2022 Stanton traveled to North Dakota alongside some of her students from Colorado Law. North Dakota does not require voter registration, and any resident should be able to vote with proper documentation. Poll workers do not always apply the law accurately. Colorado Law students observed workers using unnecessary lists to identify someone’s name and address. The practice of using certain lists, such as 911 records, confuses potential voters and causes people to walk away. Election observations and real-time interventions help prevent such scenarios and ensure that casting a vote can be simple for tribal members.

The Natives Vote initiative stands as a demonstration of the power that collaborative effort holds in promoting democracy and inclusivity. By addressing specific voting issues, providing accessible information and fostering indigenous-led advocacy, this initiative strives to ensure that every Native American has the opportunity to exercise their right to vote. You can learn more about American Indian Law Clinic: Native Voter Education or contact the director, Christina Stanton.

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Emiliano Salazar (’23), Spencer Garcia (’24) and Kelsea Suarez (’23) stand in front of a voting location at the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota.

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Faces of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship: Associate Professor Leah Sprain

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 19:31:42 +0000

Faces of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship: Associate Professor Leah Sprain Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 09/28/2023 - 13:31

Gretchen Minekime

Associate Professor Leah Sprain, Communication, College of Media, Communication and Information

Associate Professor Leah Sprain’s work embraces the idea that the communication discipline is a practical discipline and that community partnerships are key components to doing scholarship well. She also believes partnerships with communities outside the university can be high-impact ways for professors to get satisfaction from their work. For these reasons—and more—it makes perfect sense that Sprain is embarking on her second year as a fellow in the Higher Education and Democracy Initiative.

Tell us about being a Higher Education and Democracy Fellow.

I was born and raised in Colorado. Much of my sense of the Western Slope was shaped by opportunities to recreate there. So, I’ve appreciated the opportunity to learn different nuances about a part of the state that I was familiar with in only one sense of the word, to have a sense of the things important to community life and changing dynamics.

I’ve also appreciated the structure of the fellows program because it enables developing relationships, trying things out to see what works and taking time to establish real trust.

What’s an example of a public and community-engaged project you have going, and how is it advancing your scholarly work?

On the Western Slope, the League of Women Voters—Mesa County wanted to ask better questions at their candidate forums. I was able to study past meetings (through transcripts) and provide recommendations based on the types of situations encountered. For example: How do you get people to speak beyond their talking points? How do you ask challenging questions that do not seem to have a partisan bias? When follow-up questions are not part of the format, how do you ask questions that help audiences recognize when a candidate evades the question?

This is part of what’s exciting about community-based work. I’m considering questions like “What counts as a non-partisan question in an age when democracy is under threat?” because the League was asking. It’s connected to bigger stakes and sparks research ideas.

Why is public and community-engaged scholarship important for CU �鶹ӰԺ?

CU has an important place in the public’s imagination in CO, but sometimes it’s about things we don’t want to be known for. I want us to be seen as a public resource—to students and people of the state. The university is an entertaining place for sports, music and theater, but there are also dynamic relationships of research, thinking, inquiry and knowledge that the university represents and is connecting to the needs of the people of CO.

We face so many interconnected crises, and I want CU �鶹ӰԺ to be part of how we respond and move forward.

What would you say to fellow faculty members about incorporating public and community-engaged scholarship into their activities?

I have many colleagues who see their classrooms as important places where they’re working out the type of world they want to be in. Yes, students are a vital part of that, but creating projects that can be capacity-building for everyone, and the way community members can amplify scholarly instincts and connect scholars to the people already doing the work, is valuable. We’re [scholars] investing in big systems and institutions, but engaging with the people inside them helps us understand practical limitations and opportunities.

Like many professions, faculty memberscan feel like we’re asked to do too much with too few resources. Public partnerships can feel like extra. The only way we get out of that trap is to talk about and model synergies between public and community-engaged scholarship and reward so it won’t feel just like extra. I’m excited to be part of a program that supports the work and shows that it’s valued. And, that allows for professional satisfaction.

The CU �鶹ӰԺ Office for Outreach and Engagement facilitates mutually beneficial partnerships between communities and scholars who seek to advance their work in community settings. Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship highlights the stories of CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty, staff, students and public partners conducting the work and what they’re accomplishing together. See more Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship stories and learn about what the Office for Outreach and Engagement offers.

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Announcing the 2023-24 Fellows for Higher Education and Democracy

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 19:26:25 +0000

Announcing the 2023-24 Fellows for Higher Education and Democracy Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 09/28/2023 - 13:26

Gretchen Minekime

The Office for Outreach and Engagement is pleased to announce the 2023-24 Higher Education and Democracy Fellows.

Matt Burgess, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Studies
Janet Donavan, Associate Chair, Political Science
Doug Spencer, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Research, Colorado Law
Leah Sprain, Associate Professor, Department of Communication
Christina Stanton, Director of the American Indian Law Clinic

The Higher Education and Democracy Initiative convenes and supports a group of faculty members who are committed to realizing collaborative efforts that build Colorado’s social and civic fabric and elevate outreach and engagement activities that fulfill CU �鶹ӰԺ’s democratic mission.

Faculty Fellows are subject matter experts, thought partners and point people in their schools and colleges about matters related to the civic health of Colorado communities. They work with the Office for Outreach and Engagement staff and community members to plan and execute campus and community-based work that connects their disciplines and the university broadly with efforts to ameliorate the effects of political polarization and restore civic trust. They build relationships, participate in events (e.g., lectures, trainings), and/or undertake public or community-engaged research activities with partner organizations.

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Higher Education and Democracy Fellows 2024

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Higher Education and Democracy Initiative

Maintaining the Balance: Investigating the Language of Political Extremism on the Western Slope

Amid rising political polarization, a team of CU �鶹ӰԺ researchers partner with community organizations on Colorado’s Western Slope to examine how language, activism and civic engagement intersect in the fight against political extremism.

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Higher Education and Democracy Fellows Lead Election Education Efforts

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Demonstrative democracy: At forum, students show energy, curiosity about engaging with politics

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2024 Election Engagement

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Empowering Native Voices: The Natives Vote Initiative

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Faces of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship: Associate Professor Leah Sprain

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