The Quickening of America: Rebuilding Our Nation, Remaking Our Lives
Democracy, Lapp{‚}e and Du Bois argue, can solve real-life problems and "bring new meaning and effectiveness into our lives [if it] becomes not simply what we have, but what wedo." In their accessible, emphatically interactive volume, they challenge debilitating myths about democracy, public life, self-interest, and power; describe experiments in practical democratic problem solving at work--in the media, in human services, in government, and in education; and discuss the one-on-one skills (active listening, creative conflict, mediation, and negotiation) and the skills for use in group settings (political imagination, public dialogue, public judgment, celebration and appreciation, evaluation and reflection, and mentoring) that are essential elements in building a "culture of democracy." In the face of widespread doubt and despair about the future,The Quickening of Americaoffers the encouraging suggestion that, with little fanfare, "regular Americans are applying the lessons we all need to learn in order to create the lives we want . . . and a country that works."Mary Carroll