Larry Berman

Democracy cannot be taken for granted, whether at home or internationally, and eternal vigilance (along with civic intelligence) is required to protect it. Approaching Democracy provides students with a framework to analyze the structure, process, and action of US government, institutions, and social movements. It also invites comparison with other countries. This globalizing perspective gives students an understanding of issues of governance and challenges to democracy here and elsewhere. At a moment of political hyper-partisanship, economic tensions, media misinformation, hyper-partisanship, and anxieties about the future of civil rights, this is the ideal time to introduce Approaching Democracy--a textbook based on Vaclav Havel’s powerful metaphor of democracy as an ideal and the American experiment as the closest approach to it--to a new generation of political science undergraduate students.NEW TO THE TENTH EDITIONUpdated to reflect the results of the 2022 midterm elections and explore the implications of Congressional redistricting, voting suppression, and voting rights legislationCovers the first two years of the Biden administration and provides a thorough retrospective on the Trump presidency—including updates on the January 6 Commission findings and the Justice department’s investigation into Trump’s alleged misappropriation of classified government documentsPresents the developments on the Supreme Court including the appointment of its two newest justices and major recent decisions including controversial rulings on reproductive health, the separation of church and state, and the environmentExplores the revival of NATO and other international alliances in the context of the Russian invasion of UkraineNew and updated material has also been provided regarding gun control, healthcare, labor rights, immigration, economic policy, COVID-19’s lingering impacts, and the ongoing struggle for social and racial justice in America

Democracy cannot be taken for granted, whether at home or internationally, and eternal vigilance (along with civic intelligence) is required to protect it. Approaching Democracy provides students with a framework to analyze the structure, process, and action of US government, institutions, and social movements. It also invites comparison with other countries. This globalizing perspective gives students an understanding of issues of governance and challenges to democracy here and elsewhere. At a moment of political hyper-partisanship, economic tensions, media misinformation, hyper-partisanship, and anxieties about the future of civil rights, this is the ideal time to introduce Approaching Democracy--a textbook based on Vaclav Havel’s powerful metaphor of democracy as an ideal and the American experiment as the closest approach to it--to a new generation of political science undergraduate students.NEW TO THE TENTH EDITIONUpdated to reflect the results of the 2022 midterm elections and explore the implications of Congressional redistricting, voting suppression, and voting rights legislationCovers the first two years of the Biden administration and provides a thorough retrospective on the Trump presidency—including updates on the January 6 Commission findings and the Justice department’s investigation into Trump’s alleged misappropriation of classified government documentsPresents the developments on the Supreme Court including the appointment of its two newest justices and major recent decisions including controversial rulings on reproductive health, the separation of church and state, and the environmentExplores the revival of NATO and other international alliances in the context of the Russian invasion of UkraineNew and updated material has also been provided regarding gun control, healthcare, labor rights, immigration, economic policy, COVID-19’s lingering impacts, and the ongoing struggle for social and racial justice in America

From unsubstantiated 2020 election fraud claims and the storming of the US Capitol to the rampage of COVID-19 and racial injustice, this book covers the foundations, institutions, and processes of "the great American experiment" with a clear and resonant theme: Democracy cannot be taken for granted, whether at home or internationally, and eternal vigilance (along with civic intelligence) is required to protect it. Approaching Democracy provides students with a framework to analyze the structure, process, and action of US government, institutions, and social movements. It also invites comparison with other countries. This globalizing perspective gives students an understanding of issues of governance and challenges to democracy here and elsewhere. At a moment of growing domestic terrorism, political hyper-partisanship, populism, identity politics, and governmental dysfunction, there is no better time to bring Approaching Democracy--a textbook based on Vaclav Havel’s powerful metaphor of democracy as an ideal and the American experiment as the closest approach to it--to a new generation of political science undergraduate students. NEW TO THE NINTH EDITION Two new authors, Nadia E. Brown and Sarah Allen Gershon, who bring refreshing intellectual and diverse perspectives to the text. Includes the tumultuous political context surrounding the Trump presidency, the 2020 elections, the 116th Congress, the Supreme Court, the COVID-19 crisis, and the fight for social and racial justice. Figures and tables reflect the latest available data and surveys. Two new features--Diversity and Democracy, highlighting the experiences of America’s diverse social groups and the role of identity politics—and Discussion Questions at the end of each chapter, assessing critical thinking skills. Critical contemporary events are explored throughout the book, including the attempted coup following the 2020 elections, the Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter, protests in American cities that come to the epicenter of America’s approach to democracy, the changes in the Supreme Court and the federal court system, the growth of LGBTQ+ legal rights, and the alteration in American Federalism. New and updated data on public attitudes toward police brutality, DACA, voter suppression, healthcare, and the global climate movement are also covered.

Crooked Bamboo is a political memoir centered on Nguyen Thai's inside account of South Vietnam's Ngo Dinh Diem regime. Thai was a close personal aide for Diem as well as Director General of Vietnam Press, giving him significant access to Diem and other Ngo family members. Although the Diem era is the focus of the memoir, Nguyen Thai's post-1963 career as a government official, businessman, and confidant of several key South Vietnamese figures sheds light on the aftermath of the Diem regime and the dilemmas of South Vietnam's anti-communist elite throughout the Vietnam War. Thai's attempts to help bring the war to a negotiated end and his experiences as one of the first former South Vietnamese officials to return to Communist Vietnam also offer important reflections on the meaning of the war and its aftermath.

In the first comprehensive study of the Office of Management and Budget Larry Berman traces its evolution from a once impartial and objective presidential staff agency to The Office of Meddling and Bumbling (TOMB), as it was known by the end of the Nixon administration. In doing so he analyzes both its established role and the subsequent changes in this role as different presidents attempted to respond to a variety of external demands. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In the first comprehensive study of the Office of Management and Budget Larry Berman traces its evolution from a once impartial and objective presidential staff agency to The Office of Meddling and Bumbling (TOMB), as it was known by the end of the Nixon administration. In doing so he analyzes both its established role and the subsequent changes in this role as different presidents attempted to respond to a variety of external demands. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Zumwalt is a compelling portrait of the controversial military man who is widely regarded as the founder of the modern U.S. Navy, Admiral Elmo Russell ""Bud"" Zumwalt. Chief of Naval Operations during the decades-long Cold War crisis, Zumwalt implemented major strategic innovations that endure to this day, especially in his campaign against racism and sexism throughout the fleet. Larry Berman, the author of Perfect Spy, offers a fascinating, detailed look at an extraordinary man--winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom--an inspiring portrait of leadership that is essential in these troubled times.

During the Vietnam War, Time reporter Pham Xuan An befriended everyone who was anyone in Saigon, including American journalists such as David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan, the CIA's William Colby, and the legendary Colonel Edward Lansdale--not to mention the most influential members of the South Vietnamese government and army. None of them ever guessed that he was also providing strategic intelligence to Hanoi, smuggling invisible ink messages into the jungle inside egg rolls. His early reports were so accurate that General Giap joked, "We are now in the U.S. war room."In Perfect Spy, Larry Berman, who An considered his official American biographer, chronicles the extraordinary life of one of the twentieth century's most fascinating spies.

Illuminates the bankruptcy of the campaign against North Vietnam

"A thoroughly researched and highly perceptive study of the decisions that turned the tribal struggle in Vietnam into an American war. Berman's book fully documents the role of domestic policy in our tragic involvement. As one who watched the process at firsthand. I commend Professor Berman's book for its fairness and insight."— George W. Ball