Books by Ted Becker

Quantum theory is linked with participatory democratic thinking--a more direct and purer form of democracy. The book moves from a discussion of the relationship of physical and political theory to an explanation of the meaning of quantum politics.

Drawing on the new physics as the scientific foundation of transformational politics, Becker and Slaton write compellingly about teledemocracy, social energy, and democratic quanta. They outline their quantum political theory in rich detail, demonstrating how we have entered a phase of highly charged, erratic, and sometimes self-contradictory packets of social political energy that appears to occur with a rough regularity but with differing levels of velocity and force.Becker and Slaton explore the current state and future of televoting, electronic town meetings, and other initiatives designed to put the public back into public affairs. This book will prove to be a fascinating read for scholars, students, researchers, and policymakers interested in new political paradigms, politics, and public administration.

The best way to teach democracy has been the subject of an ongoing debate for 2,500 years. Unlike most books about teaching democracy, this one spends more time on how to teach democracy than the what and why of teaching democracy. It punctures the irony of teaching democracy by lectures and superior teachers. In its place, this book provides a variety of illustrations for the teaching of democracy in an experiential and egalitarian fashion. The introduction presents a theoretical and analytical framework of democracy and democratic pedagogy. The six chapters cover topics such as structuring a democratic classroom; democratic practices that empower students; problem solving and community service that make the classroom a laboratory for democracy; and university-based programs of democratic alternatives that serve the community. The volume's treatment of community organization, students as collaborators, personal empowerment, the community of need and response, and the democratic organization expresses its preference for direct democratic participation.