Approaching Democracy

by Larry Berman, Bruce Allen Murphy

Approaching Democracy is the American Government book with a clear and compelling central theme, designed to elevate student interest. Approaching Democracy addresses the evolving nature of the American experiment in democratic government. It teaches students the theory and the basics of American political science, the political history of this nation, and provides the critical thinking skills needed to analyze these evolving relationships. The title and theme for this book come from Vaclav Havel, a former dissident Czech playwright once imprisoned by the his country’s Communist government and later elected president. Addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress on February 1, 1990, Havel noted that with the collapse of the Soviet Union, millions of people from Eastern Europe were involved in a historically irreversible beginning their quest for freedom and democracy. And it was the United Stated of America that provided the model for these newly freed peoples. But Havel put his own spin on the notion of American democracy as a model. “As long as people are people,” Havel explained, “democracy, in the full sense of the word, will always be no more than an ideal. In this sense, you too are merely approaching democracy. But you have one great you have been approaching democracy uninterruptedly for more than two hundred years, and your journey toward the horizon has never been disrupted by a totalitarian system.” Larry Berman and Bruce Allen Murphy, long-time teachers of the introductory American Political science course in both large and small public and private universities, set out to write a book that offers a clear theme — a theme that is just as relevant, if not more so today than when it was first presented — in a highly readable, easy-to-understand format. Both authors enjoy teaching and are actively engaged in new methods of engaging students and empowering them to participate in political discourse.

Genres: Textbooks, Political Science, Reference

Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

About the author

Larry Berman (PhD, Princeton) is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis, and founding Dean of the Georgia State Honors College.

His books include Zumwalt: The Life and Times of Admiral Elmo Russell "Bud" Zumwalt Jr. (2012), Perfect Spy: The incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An (2007), No Peace, No Honor (2001), Lyndon Johnson War: The Road to Stalemate in Vietnam (1989), and Planning A Tragedy: The Americanization of the War in Vietnam (1982). Berman is currently researching for his next book, A Slow Walk with Death: The Lingering Effects of Agent Orange.

Reviews

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a lot of garbage. It had tons of typos (things like double commas,, misplaced apostrophe's, spaces in between words and punctuation , misspellnigs on almost every page). But more importantly (to me), it contained factual inaccuracies and partial truths, things that you might catch if you're vigilant & thinking critically but would probably wash over you otherwise. It's a college textbook and it's just inexcusable to fill a textbook for a required course--often the only course that a given student will take on our government--with that kind of trash. I feel like this wouldn't happen so much if there wasn't a huge rush to get out THE NEXT EDITION OMG or something.

Anyway, I gave it two stars because I bought it with scholarship money and when the class was over I was able to sell it for $70 and I bought myself an awesome fountain pen and a set of Beatrix Potter postcards with that money, so I associate this book with free fountain pens & postcards, which are some of my favorite things...