Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 1

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health

Isaac E. Werner

Legend High School, EDGE Program

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 2

Table of Contents

Abstract … pg. 3

Thesis & Political Party History … pg. 4

Local & National Statistics for Polarization … pg. 6

Economic & Historical Causes of Polarization … pg. 9

Alleged Effects on Mental Health … pg. 11

Thesis Conclusion … pg. 13

Visuals for Qualitative Research … pg. 14

Citations … pg. 25
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 3

Abstract

This report demonstrates the usage of a popular method and new insight into political

polarization within the American public, and whether this polarization causes deep mental and

emotional distress. It states a written explanation of the statistical and data findings in regards to

the political party separation and the ideological silos between citizens on a national level. It then

brings the concept of silos between citizens to a local level with the author, conducting the new

method within Legend High School, located in Parker, Colorado, to see if a small scale of

teachers and students reflect the depicted data illustrated on the national level. This paper

specifies history, structural, and economic causes that furthered political polarization over the

past three decades and applies those findings to political interactions on both a national and local

level.

Keywords:​ political polarization, two-party system, partisanship, demographics,

ideological, mental health, emotional distress

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 4

Thesis & Political Party History

Within a governmental system that caters to the amplification of the voice of the people,

polarization between the leading parties that represent that voice shouldn’t be something that is

surprising or off-putting, and yet within America’s current political climate, this polarization

causes large amounts of distress. Whether you identify as a Democrat, Republican, or a third

party follower, emotions such as stress, hopelessness, and depression are commonplace within

politics, even more so if you're more involved within local politics​—​but where does this

polarization start (Jacobs, 2018)? Where do the negative emotions begin? Is this directly related

to which political party controls the government, or does it start at a local level? No matter which

provocation is believed to be at the center of our polarization, the mental strain and distress

always seem current in the minds of the people, and the aforementioned mental stress is what can

be argued as being the eye of the storm in regards to polarization (Jacobs, 2018).

It is not a secret that America is predominantly run by a two-party system​—​the two

parties in question being the Republican party and the Democratic party. It’s also not a secret

that in the beginnings of this country, many of the political figures at that time wanted to avoid

having the aforementioned two-party system, believing that this would create an irreversible

divide and struggle for power between politicians and the people. With the introduction of the

Republican party in 1854 and the induction of Lincoln in 1860, this fear was suddenly becoming

a reality (Levendusky, 2017). The function of a political party is as follows: a) a group of people

with similar political goals and opinions, and b) to get candidates affiliated with that party

elected to public office. This is stated within the definition itself that political parties are based
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 5

solely on values and morals, and figuring out how to represent the people of America who

believe in said values. But along with this extreme want to get candidates elected to office while

satisfying the public who share your same principles, an inevitable divide starts to form, and

again, this is no secret to the American public or even politicians in office (Mansbridge, 2018).

There’s data that showcases how big that division has grown. In 1994, Democrats and

Republicans were divided only by 20% amongst the general public, but by 2017, that percentage

jumped to 33-32%. This illustrates a clear picture of how the two biggest political parties are

divided along ideological lines than at any point in the last decade, but data also shows that these

divisions are greatest amongst those who are most engaged and involved in political processes,

which happens to be only 12% of the entire American public (Dimock, 2016). Yet, along with

this divide, came the common scene of ideological silos; which are cases in which an

individual’s stances on a given issue, policy, or person is more likely to be strictly defined by

their identification with a particular political party. And along with the amplification of

polarization within American politics, comes this idea that a majority of the American public

strictly stand to either the “left” or the “right,” when statistical truth showcases that it’s the

minority that is representing the majority in this falsehood (Dimock, 2016).

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 6

Local & National Statistics For Polarization

With the modernization of news media, the American public has undergone an extreme

kind of exposure to how the media relays information to the public. More people have begun to

rely on smartphones and computers for news articles, the more controversial topics have become

the complete center of political focus (Dixit, 2007). Ideological viewpoints are often what fuels

the creation and continuation of political parties--seen within the creation of the Tea Party in

2009--but the advancement of technology has allowed the individual to build entire political

identities off of consistent ideological viewpoints. For instance, if an individual is affiliated with

the Democratic party, the person is 21% more likely to have mostly Democratic views on what is

considered to be controversial topics like social safety nets, homosexuality, racial discrimination,

and immigration. This dependency has grown significantly over the last decade--in 2008, only

one in ten American were uniformly liberal or conservative across most of the values listed

above, but that number nearly tripled to 28% in 2018. Now, there are consistently liberal or

conservative expressions across a range of multiple issues within political leadership and

representations. There is also the surge in alignments with partisanship within political

parties--more Democrats give uniformly liberal responses and Republicans give more

conservative response than at any given point in the last 30 years. Since only 28% of the

American public have consistent ideological thinking, with the majority expressing a mix of

liberal and conservative values, the public minority has had the most influence on political

processes throughout history (Dimock, 2016). Due to the exerted representation of said minority

on sometimes the most important political processes, America seems extremely divided amongst
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 7

political ideologies. On the opposing side, the majority has continued to express a mix of these

disunited values but continues to have the least impact on who represents those views on high

political platforms (Dixit, 2007).

If political polarization is as large of an issue as the media and other public actors lead us

to believe, then when does this issue begin? A three week long study conducted at Legend High

School was only able to offer a glimpse of how younger polarized populations are unaware of the

divisive conflict between them and their peers. To be given some context, Legend High School is

a school located in the Douglas School County District in Parker, Colorado. The demographics

of the school itself show that the student body is 51% male and 81% white--the overall minority

student body population only showed to be 19% of the total amount of enrolled students

(USNews, 2014). These demographics are a mirror reflection of the population of the town of

Parker, with very little diversity within the workforce, families, and the overall public (City Data,

2008). Therefore, the students at Legend High School were asked a series of 30 questions

designed to collect qualitative data that would showcase which side of the political spectrum they

leaned towards the most. These questions were asked across an even amount of 40 students

ranging from 9th grade to 12th grade, and then approximately 20 teachers and adults were asked

the same questions, with the addition of asking how often and in which elections they had voted

in. Questions ranging from asking stances on controversial topics stated before, to which

American neighborhood they wanted to live in, to whether or not they believed military or

diplomacy should be used to achieve peace, were asked of all students. The first group of 20

students showcased that many teenagers aged 14-16 weren’t quite confident in their political

stances, but the age groups of 17-19 and 30+ illustrated that they were confident in their political
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 8

opinions, but only 5% of the surveyed group stated that they only affiliated themselves with one

group or the other, and then only 1% of that group stated that they believed the opposing party’s

views were so misguided that they were a threat to the nation’s wellbeing. The second group of

20 students illustrated very similar results but with 0.7% more of the students claiming that they

believed the opposing party’s views were dangerously misguided. The data and numbers that are

illustrated above show even a small group within one of the most conservative towns in

Colorado aren’t as polarized in shared ideologies as the media leads us to believe.

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 9

Economic and Historical Causes of Polarization

There are also deeper structural and historical causes of political polarization, the first

being the signing of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 by President Johnson, which resulted in the

southern conservatives leaving the Democratic party and joining the Republican party. This

made the Republican party more socially conservative and the Democratic party more socially

liberal, but it wasn’t the public who jump-started this polarization. The people did not change

their views, but rather the party changed its composition and became more homogenous,

resulting in inevitable polarization (Mansbridge, 2018). There was also a period during the late

’60s and early ‘70s, where the public believed there was bipartisanship in the Senate when

during that time the Democrats had dominated and gained control of the Senate. The American

people had gotten used to referring to the parties as the “sun and moon parties” and the

Republican party adapted to being called the moon party (Mansbridge, 2018). They adjusted and

then were able to achieve what they wanted for their own personal gains for the benefit of the

party--the Democrats needed to be able to reach out to the Republicans because this adjustment

and adaptation was not visible on their end. The Democrats themselves were divided and wanted

bipartisanship majority because it held “more legitimacy” and therefore lost focus on what the

party wanted in terms of legislation and policy (Mansbridge, 2018, p.11). The incentive between

these two parties shifted once the Republicans gained control of the House and Senate because

the Republicans took advantage of the “insecure majority” and didn’t let the Democrats achieve

their own personal gains (Mansbridge, 2018, p.17). The third cause was more monetary based

which related to and worsened the rising inequality. Primary candidates began to receive donor

offers and money from out of state, which led to out-of-district donors causing more impact on
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 10

final results than the in-of-district donors did. Candidates had to make appeals to the kind of

people who gave money, and those people were not the median voter but rather ones who held

more extreme and opposing views (Mansbridge, 2018). Monetary offers pull the candidates away

from the center, and this currency based motivation results in candidates becoming much more

differentiated from each other in local and national races (Mansbridge, 2018). The public isn’t

completely free from fault, seeing as psychological responses to party divide like naive realism,

tribalism, and group polarization did a fair amount, if not more, damage to the bipartisanship

status upheld once before (Mansbridge, 2018).

Within a governmental system that claims to uphold the voice of the people, polarization

between the leading parties that represent that voice should be something to be avoided or rather

repaired within any current system, but through multiple conditions, many consider it impossible

to achieve. Within America’s current political climate, this polarization has caused large amounts

of distress and a level of reality, truth, and unfixable consistency have been accepted. Whether

you identify as a Democrat, Republican, or a third party follower, emotions such as stress,

hopelessness, and depression are commonplace within politics, even more so if you're more

involved within local politics, and it’s not polarization that is the only cause of this. The

provocation resulted between our sun and moon parties, the conservatives and liberals, and the

media is what is shown to be at the center of the polarization, with the amplification of mental

strain and distress always current in the minds of the people--and the aforementioned political

party clashes is what is at the eye of the polarization storm.

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 11

Alleged Effects on Mental Health

Due to the fact that politics, politicians, and even the state of our government is still what

the American people depend on to represent and lead them, the notion of our leaders being

divided can lead to large amounts of public panic and distress (Logue, 2012). There are multiple

philosophies and reactional emotions that are mainly related to politics and the government’s

ability to function, including naive realism, tribalism, and group polarization. Naive realism is

the one that is most impactful to these alleged negative mental health effects, and it is what

surrounds the media’s message of extreme polarization amongst citizens. By definition, naive

realism is the human tendency to believe that we see the world around us objectively, and that

people who disagree with us must be misinformed, irrational, or biased. While with some public

figures that seems to be the case, this mindset is considered a “veridical” experience, meaning

that the overall effects and negative results are due to the subject’s perception, whether that

perception is true or false (Logue, 2012). In regards to politics, naive realism play a very large

factor in the division between liberal and conservative that the American people are currently

experiencing, it is where the concept and belief of “us vs. them” stems from (Levendusky, 2017).

Since marginalized groups are experiencing a deeper backlash due to this mindset, the veridical

experience of naive realism has led to a greater invocation of anger, distress, and anxiety within

everyday life (Logue, 2012). That belief of having a split nation is also thanks to tribalism, the

way of thinking or behaving where people are excessively loyal to their tribe or social group.

With the introduction of political parties in the mid 1800s’ and the superfluous dependency on

these political parties, tribalism has leaked into other areas of life, such as where people choose

to live and where they decide to send their children to school (Dimock, 2016). It may not further
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 12

polarization on a government level, seeing as it is already in affect, but this way of thinking does

warp the way of thinking and the amount of willingness that people have in talking with others

who have opposing views and morals of their own. A more extreme and concerning form of

tribalism and naive realism is group polarization, which is the tendency for a group to make

decisions that are more extreme or contrary than the initial inclination of its members. This

specifically relates to political parties and rarely ever the citizens they represent, although said

citizens are not subject from group polarization as seen in tribalism and naive realism. It is seen

in both the Democratic & Republican party and one of the cultural reasons for the polarization

we are experiencing--the signing of The Civil Rights Act in 1964 by President Johnson--and how

both of the parties changed their morale viewing and stances on one of the most important issues

of the time, furthering away but their initial beliefs (Mansbridge, 2018). This change itself

resulted in the Republican party losing its liberal leaning members and the Democratic party

losing its conservative leaning members, again, further straying from the initial inclination of its

members in the 1800s. By watching the groups that represented them make such a drastic

change, many of the conservative southerners of the time followed the Republican party in

drifting away from liberal ideologies, and vice versa for those who associated themselves with

the Democratic party. At this time, polarization wasn’t as much as a concern as it is now, but as

more and more events and other elements aided in continuous polarization.
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 13

Thesis Conclusion

Within a system that claims to uphold the voice of the people, polarization between the

leading parties that represent that voice should be something to be avoided or rather repaired

within any current system, but through multiple conditions, many consider it impossible to

achieve. Within America’s current political climate, this polarization has caused large amounts

of distress and a level of reality, truth, and unfixable consistency have been accepted. Whether

you identify as a Democrat, Republican, or a third party follower, emotions such as stress,

hopelessness, and depression are commonplace within politics, even more so if you're more

involved within local politics, and it’s not polarization that is the only cause of this. The

provocation resulted between our differing parties, the conservatives and liberals, and the media

is what is shown to be at the center of the polarization, with the amplification of mental strain

and distress always current in the minds of the ordinary people--and the aforementioned political

party clashes is what is at the eye of the polarization storm.

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 14

Visuals for Qualitative Research

Q1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as President?
[IF DK ENTER AS DK. IF DEPENDS PROBE ONCE WITH: ​Overall do you approve or
disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as President?​ IF STILL DEPENDS
ENTER AS DK]

October 17th - 19th ​ ​Approve:​ ​Disapprove: ​ ​DK/Ref.

3 9 8
October 20th - 25th​ 1 11 8

October 26th - 31st ​ 4 5 11

Q1a​. ASK IF APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE: ​Do you [approve or disapprove] strongly or not
strongly?

October 17th - 19th ​ ​Strongly:​ ​Not Strongly: ​ ​DK/Ref.

12 4 4
October 20th - 25th​ 13 4 3

October 26th - 31st ​ 10 5 5

Q2. If you could live anywhere in the United States that you wanted to, would you prefer a city,
a suburban area, a small town or a rural area?

October 17th - 19th

0 City
17 Suburban area
0 Small town
3 Rural area
0 DK/Refused

October 20th - 25th

2 City
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 15

14 Suburban area
2 Small town
2 Rural area
0 DK/Refused

October 26th - 31st

1 City
12 Suburban area
4 Small town
2 Rural town
1 DK/Refused

Q2a. Imagining that you are moving to another community. In deciding where to live, would
each of the following be important, or not too important to you. First, would ​[INSERT ITEM;
RANDOMIZE​] be important, or not too important? What about ​[NEXT ITEM]​?

Important Not too important DK/Ref

a. Living in a place where most people share your political views

​ Important:​ ​Not Important:​ ​DK/Ref.:

October 17th - 19th ​ 2 14 4

October 20th - 25th​ 1 16 3

October 26th - 31st ​ 4 14 2

b. Having high-quality public schools

​Important:​ ​Not Important: ​ ​DK/Ref.:

October 17th - 19th ​ 19 0 1

October 20th - 25th​ 20 0 0

October 26th - 31st ​ 10 5 5

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 16

c. Living in a place with a mix of people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds

​Important:​ ​Not Important: ​ ​DK/Ref.

October 17th - 19th ​ 9 6 5

October 20th - 25th​ 10 4 6

October 26th - 31st ​ 8 5 7

d. Living in a place with many people who share your religious faith

​Important:​ ​Not Important: ​ ​DK/Ref.

October 17th - 19th ​ 4 9 7

October 20th - 25th​ 3 11 6

October 26th - 31st ​ 5 10 5

e. Being near art museums and theaters

​Important:​ ​Not Important: ​ ​DK/Ref.

October 17th - 19th ​ 4 9 7

October 20th - 25th​ 3 11 6

October 26th - 31st ​ 5 10 5

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 17

f. Having easy access to the outdoors for things like hiking, fishing, and camping

​Important:​ ​Not Important: ​ ​DK/Ref.

October 17th - 19th ​ 4 9 7

October 20th - 25th​ 3 11 6

October 26th - 31st ​ 5 10 5

g. Being near your extended family

​Important:​ ​Not Important: ​ ​DK/Ref.

October 17th - 19th ​ 2 11 7

October 20th - 25th​ 5 10 5

October 26th - 31st ​ 7 11 2

Q3. Would you say your overall opinion of… ​[INSERT ITEM; RANDOMIZE]​ is very
favorable, mostly favorable, mostly UNfavorable, or very unfavorable?

a. Republican Party

​Very Fav.:​ ​Very Unfav.: ​ ​DK/Ref.

October 17th - 19th ​ 3 7 10

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 18

October 20th - 25th​ 6 4 10

October 26th - 31st ​ 7 5 8

b. The Democratic Party

​Very Fav.:​ ​Very Unfav.: ​ ​DK/Ref.

October 17th - 19th ​ 5 7 8

October 20th - 25th​ 6 3 11

October 26th - 31st ​ 4 6 10

Q3a. ​[IF VERY UNFAVORABLE]​ Would you say the Republican Party’s policies are so
misguided that they threaten the nation’s wellbeing, or wouldn’t you go that far?

​Threatening.:​ ​Non-Threatening.:​ ​DK/Ref.

October 17th - 19th ​ 5 8 7

October 20th - 25th​ 5 7 8

October 26th - 31st ​ 1 8 11

Q3b. ​[IF VERY UNFAVORABLE]​ Would you say the Democratic Party’s policies are so
misguided that they threaten the nation’s wellbeing, or wouldn’t you go that far?
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 19

​Threatening.:​ ​Un-Threatening: ​ ​DK/Ref.

October 17th - 19th ​ 6 10 4

October 20th - 25th​ 6 5 9

October 26th - 31st ​ 4 6 10

Q4. I'm going to read you some pairs of statements that will help us understand how you feel
about a number of things. As I read each pair, tell me whether the FIRST statement or the
SECOND statement comes closer to your own views — even if neither is exactly right. The first
pair is ​[READ AND RANDOMIZE PAIRS BUT NOT STATEMENTS WITHIN EACH
PAIR]. Next, [NEXT PAIR]​ ​[IF NECESSARY​: “Which statement comes closer to your views,
even if neither is exactly right?”​]

a. Government is almost always wasteful and inefficient:

October 17th - 19th ​ 4

October 20th - 25th​ 3

October 26th - 31st ​ 4

b. Government often does a better job than people give it credit for

October 17th - 19th ​ 7

October 20th - 25th​ 3

October 26th - 31st ​ 3

c. Government regulation of business is necessary to protect the public interest:

October 17th - 19th ​ 5

October 20th - 25th​ 5

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 20

October 26th - 31st ​ 4

d. Government regulation of business usually does more harm than good:

October 17th - 19th ​ 3

October 20th - 25th​ 1

October 26th - 31st ​ 2

e. Poor people today have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing
anything in return

October 17th - 19th ​ 6

October 20th - 25th​ 6

October 26th - 31st ​ 2

f. Poor people have hard lives because government benefits don't go far enough to help them live
decently:

October 17th - 19th ​ 3

October 20th - 25th​ 3

October 26th - 31st ​ 0

g. Racial discrimination is the main reason why many black people can't get ahead these days:

October 17th - 19th ​ 7

October 20th - 25th​ 0

October 26th - 31st ​ 4

h. Blacks who can't get ahead in this country are mostly responsible for their own condition:
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 21

October 17th - 19th ​ 1

October 20th - 25th​ 4

October 26th - 31st ​ 4

i. Immigrants today strengthen our country because of their hard work and talents:

October 17th - 19th ​ 3

October 20th - 25th​ 4

October 26th - 31st ​ 1

j. Immigrants today are a burden on our country because they take our jobs, housing, and health
care:

October 17th - 19th ​ 6

October 20th - 25th​ 3

October 26th - 31st ​ 1

k. The best way to ensure peace is through military strength:

October 17th - 19th ​ 8

October 20th - 25th​ 0

October 26th - 31st ​ 5

l. Good diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace:

October 17th - 19th ​ 4

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 22

October 20th - 25th​ 2

October 26th - 31st ​ 1

m. Business corporations make too much profit

October 17th - 19th ​ 6

October 20th - 25th​ 0

October 26th - 31st ​ 3

n. Most corporations make a fair and reasonable amount of profit

October 17th - 19th ​ 5

October 20th - 25th​ 3

October 26th - 31st ​ 3

Q5. How often would you say you vote...​[READ IN ORDER]​?

​Always​ ​Sometimes ​ ​ Never

October 17th - 19th ​ 19 1 0

October 20th - 25th​ 20 0 0

October 26th - 31st ​ 18 2 0

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 23

Q6. Would you say you follow what's going on in government and public affairs...​[READ]​?

​Always ​ ​Sometimes​ ​Never

October 17th - 19th ​ 6 10 4

October 20th - 25th​ 8 9 3

October 26th - 31st ​ 9 11 0

Q7. Have you ever contributed money to a candidate running for public office or to a group
working to elect a candidate?

​Yes​ ​No

October 17th - 19th ​ 2 18

October 20th - 25th​ 6 14

October 26th - 31st ​ 4 16

Q8. Over the last two years, would you say all of those contributions added up to more than $100
or less than that?

​Yes​ ​No

October 17th - 19th ​ 2 18

October 20th - 25th​ 5 15

October 26th - 31st ​ 0 20

Q9. In politics TODAY, do you consider yourself a Republican, Democrat, or independent?

​Rep.​ ​Dem.​ ​ Ind.

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 24

October 17th - 19th ​ 6 6 8

October 20th - 25th​ 6 5 9

October 26th - 31st ​ 4 6 10

Q9a. ​ASK IF REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT:​ Do you consider yourself a STRONG

[Republican/Democrat] or NOT a strong [Republican/Democrat]?

​Strong​ ​Not Strong

October 17th - 19th ​ 10 10

October 20th - 25th​ 12 8

October 26th - 31st ​ 4 16

Q10. How often would you say you vote in Congressional PRIMARY elections? Would you say
you vote in Congressional primary elections​ [READ IN ORDER]​?

​Always​ ​ Sometimes​ ​Never

October 17th - 19th ​ 6 10 4

October 20th - 25th​ 11 9 0

October 26th - 31st ​ 4 16 0

Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 25

Citations

Trends in party affiliation among demographic groups.​ (2018, September 18). Retrieved from

http://www.people-press.org/2018/03/20/1-trends-in-party-affiliation-among-demographic-group

s/

Dimock, M. (2016). ​http://ljournal.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/d-2016-154.pdf​.

Political Polarization in The American Public,​1-124. doi:10.18411/d-2016-154

Dixit, A., & Weibull, J. (2007). Political Polarization. ​Proceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,​ ​104(​ 18), 7351-7356. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/25427490

How Does Legend High School Rank Among America's Best High Schools?​ (n.d.).

Retrieved from

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/colorado/districts/douglas-county-school-

district-no-re-1/legend-high-school-4112

Jacobs, T. (2018, February 14). ​The Emotional Roots of Political Polarization.​ Retrieved

from ​https://psmag.com/news/emotional-roots-of-political-polarization

Logue, H. (2012). Why Naive Realism? Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society.

doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f

Lessons from the 2012 Election.​ (2012, December 04). Retrieved from

http://www.people-press.org/2012/11/13/lessons-from-the-2012-election/
Political Polarization in America & The State of Mental Health 26

Levendusky, C. M. (2017, July 11). ​Research: Political Polarization Is Changing How

Americans Work and Shop.​ Retrieved from

https://hbr.org/2017/05/research-political-polarization-is-changing-how-americans-work-and-sho

Parker, Colorado. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.city-data.com/city/Parker-Colorado.html

Race and Voting.​ (2013, June 26). Retrieved from

http://www.people-press.org/2013/05/19/race-and-voting

President George Washington's Farewell Address​ (1796). (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=15