Approaching Democracy, Eighth Edition

Approaching Democracy addresses the evolving nature of the American experiment in democratic government.  It teaches students the theory and basics of American political science and the nation's political history. It provides the critical thinking skills needed to analyze these evolving relationships.

Addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress on February 1, 1990 Vaclav Havel, a former dissident Czech playwright once imprisoned by his country’s Communist government and later elected president, said “As long as people are people, 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 are long-time teachers of the Introductory American Political Science course in both large and small public and private universities. Their goal was to write a book that offers a clear and relevant theme in an easily readable format.  Both authors enjoy teaching students new methods to empower them to participate in political discourse.

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