Any searching look at the theory and practice of citizenship in the United States today is bewildering and disconcerting. Despite earnest concern for participation, access, and "leverage," there is a widespread perception that nothing citizens do has much meaning or influence. This book argues that for American democracy to work in the twenty-first century, renewed interest in teaching the nation's young citizens a sense of the public good is imperative.All of the nation's founders, especi...

The best one volume biography of Madison's life, Ketcham's biography not only traces Madison's career, it gives readers a sense of the man. As Madison said of his early years in Virginia under the study of Donald Robertson, who introduced him to thinkers like Montaigne and Montesquieu, "all that I have been in life I owe largely to that man." It also captures a side of Madison that is less rarely on display (including a portrait of the beautiful Dolley Madison)."Madison's personali...

Although the last half of the twentieth century has been called the Age of Democracy, the twenty-first has already demonstrated the fragility of its apparent triumph as the dominant form of government throughout the world.Reassessing the fate of democracy for our time, distinguished political theorist Ralph Ketcham traces the evolution of this idea over the course of four hundred years. He traces democracy’s bumpy ride in a book that is both an exercise in the history of ideas and ...

Roots of the Republic shows how the Constitution was a product, not simply of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, but of a legal and philosophical tradition almost two centuries old. The editors have selected eighteen key documents in the development of that tradition and reproduced them with essays that explain what they mean, why they were written, and why they are important today. Each key document is accompanied by an interpretive essay written by a contemporary scholar. These essay...

The complete texts of the documents that tell the story of the clashes and compromises that gave birth to the Unites States of America.Should the members of the government be elected by direct vote of the people?Should the government be headed by a single executive, and how powerful should that executive be? Should immigrants be allowed into the United States?How should judges be appointed?What human rights should be safe from government in...

Restored to its original splendor, Montpelier is now a national shrine, but before Montpelier became a place of study and tribute, it was a home. Often kept from it by the business of the young nation, James and Dolley Madison could finally take up permanent residence when they retired from Washington in 1817. Their lifelong friend Thomas Jefferson predicted that, at Montpelier, the retiring Madison could return to his "books and farm, to tranquility, and independence," that he would be re...

An original collection of the most influential documents in American history, from the bestselling author of A Patriot's History of the United States.Since 2005, A Patriot's History of the United States has become a modern classic for its defense of America as a unique country founded on principles of justice, equality, and freedom for all.The Patriot's History Reader continues this tradition by going back to the original sources-...

Americans on both sides of the aisle love to reference the Constitution as the ultimate source of truth. But which truth? What did the framers really have in mind? In a book that author R.B. Bernstein calls “essential reading,” acclaimed historian Ray Raphael places the Constitution in its historical context, dispensing little-known facts and debunking popular preconceived notions.For each myth, Raphael first notes the kernel of truth it represents, since most myths have some basis...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Radicalism of the Revolution comes “an elegant, concise, and lucid summary of the Revolution’s origins, the war itself, and the social and political changes wrought by the struggle for American independence” (The Wall Street Journal).“This slim book tells a big story: one that invites the reader to contemplate the relationships between liberty, power, rights...

In B. M. Bower's novel 'Cabin Fever (Wild West Adventure)', readers are transported to the rugged and untamed Wild West through the beautifully descriptive prose and vivid characters that populate the pages. The book showcases Bower's trademark writing style, blending elements of romance, adventure, and the harsh realities of frontier life. The compelling storyline follows the trials and tribulations of cowboys and ranchers as they navigate through the challenges of the wilderness, making ...

Tocqueville begins his book by describing the change in social conditions taking place. He observed that over the previous seven hundred years the social and economic conditions of men had become more equal. The aristocracy, Tocqueville believed, was gradually disappearing as the modern world experienced the beneficial effects of equality. Tocqueville traced the development of equality to a number of factors, such as granting all men permission to enter the clergy, widespread economic oppo...

The Founders’ Key is a powerful call to rediscover the connection between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and thereby restore our political faith and revive our free institutions.Today, the integrity and unity of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are under attack by the Progressive political movement. And yet, writes Larry P. Arnn:“The words of the Declaration of Independence ring across the ages. The arrang...