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. Teaching & Learning Experience Personalize Learning -MySearchLab with eText provides book-specific assessment, a full eText, and research and writing tools to help students improve their results. Explore Concepts and Current Events - The eighth edition includes coverage of the changes in the administration of Barack Obama since the 2010 congressional elections, the latest data, coverage of the effect of the Great Recession on American democracy and government, and much more. Improve Critical Thinking - A tiered system of short summaries and marginal questions appears throughout each chapter to help students master, apply, and analyze the material. Engage Students - An updated, cleaner design makes the book more accessible and user-friendly. "Test Yourself" quizzes at the end of each chapter provide students with opportunities to check their learning as they go. Emphasize Learning Outcomes - Each chapter is organized around learning objectives - posed as questions - to give students a precise understanding of the concepts they are meant to understand. Instructor Support - An Instructor's Resource Manual, MyTest Test Bank, PowerPoint slides, and Digital Transparency Masters are just some of the resources available for instructors. Learning Goals Outline the foundations and evolution of the American democratic system. Analyze current political events in the context of the American history.

"Sing, Sing, Sing" is unlike any recent first collection by an American poet. It goes against the grain of contemporary fashion by replacing prosaic narrative with a lyricism both symbolic and mysterious. This poet can appreciate experience as "the open/End of a bag fill/With ordinary things," yet also he has an ear for "a watch that goes on ticking/Underground," the shadow of history that lies across the present. Murphy manifests a sense of responsibility for protecting the spirit of lost people and lost things. But in their concern for posterity, his poems use language to forge a memory of the future. This ethical impulse, "the voice of the conscious heart," gives rise to a poetry which is, even when most admonitory, compassionate. Murphy explores our involvement in history as its doers, sufferers, and writers. Hence his poetry is at the intersection of the personal and that sense of our anonymity together in which "anyone can write my story," The title, "Sing, Sing, Sing," hints at the imperative music that characterizes these poems.

There is a correlation between waking experiences in a sleep state and inner experiences in a waking state. Both involve awakened consciousness. The songs in this volume are halting attempts to put into words inner events that are experienced in a waking consciousness. Inner experiences are filtered into images, ideas, and feelings, which are then translated into words. This derivative process condenses activity into words. The polar opposite process must happen for you, the reader. If these words resonate when read, they then recreate images, ideas, and feelings. In this way, it is possible for the writer and the reader to experience a very similar inner activity. The creative process of each reader has a life of its own. Ironically, as individuals we create our own unique inner activity, which can lead to a universal experience.