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 process: 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 advantage: 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.
Berman is the author or coauthor of nine books and numerous articles. In addition, he has appeared on a number of broadcasts, including Bill Moyers's Public Broadcasting System series, "The Public Mind."
Among other honors, Berman has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the American Council for Learned Societies. Berman has received the 1996 Outstanding Mentor of Women in Political Science Award from the Women's Caucus for Political Science. He received the 1994 Bernath Lecture Prize, given annually by the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations to a scholar whose work has most contributed to our understanding of foreign relations. He is a co-recipient and collaborator in the 1990 Richard E. Newstadt Award, given annually for the best book published during the year in the field of the American presidency.
His class on the American presidency is cited in Lisa Birnbach's New and Improved College Guide as one of the most recommended classes for undergraduates at UC Davis. Berman has often conducted a series of live, interactive television programs from Washington with his undergraduate classes at UC Davis on the American presidency and American government. The programs are available from PBS Adult Learning.
In addition to his work in political science, Berman is an authority on integrating and reengineering liberal arts education with technology. He regularly presents seminars and workshops on the subject to educators across the United States and has lectured in Australia, China, Germany, Israel, and The Netherlands on American politics, foreign policy, and multimedia technology in the classroom.
An expert in American government, the presidency, and the Vietnam War, Berman's books include Approaching Democracy, The New American Presidency, Planning a Tragedy: The Americanization of the War in Vietnam, and Lyndon Johnson's War: The Road to Stalemate in Vietnam. He also coedited Foreign Military Intervention: The Dynamics of Protracted Conflict.
Bruce Allen Murphy is a nationally recognized scholar on the American Supreme Court, civil rights and liberties, judicial behavior, and judicial biography. He is currently the Fred Morgan Kirby Professor of Civil Rights in the Department of Government and Law at Lafayette College.
Murphy is the author of many publications, including the best-selling The Brandeis-Frankfurter Connection: The Secret Political Activities of Two Supreme Court justices, which received the American Bar Association's Certificate of Merit, was listed among The New York Times "Best Books for 1983," and was serialized by The Washington Post. He also wrote Fortas: The Rise and Ruin of a Supreme Court Justice, which was nominated for both the Pulitzer, Prize and the National Book Award, and he edited Portraits of American Politics. A Reader. He is currently completing a major biography of justice William O. Douglas.
Murphy has received numerous teaching awards for his courses in Constitutional Law and American Politics. He has been a finalist in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education's national Professor of the Year competition and was cited as a Best Professor in Lisa Birnbach's New and Improved College Guide.
