About Ralph Ketcham

Ralph Ketcham (1927-2017) was Maxwell Professor Emeritus of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He authored numerous books, including The Idea of Democracy in the Modern Era; Individualism and Public Life; James Madison: A Biography; Presidents Above Party: The First American Presidency, 1789-1829; and Public-Spirited Citizenship: Leadership and Good Government in the United States.

A Jeffersonian Model of Citizenship

By |2020-05-13T15:40:15-05:00December 18th, 2019|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Citizen, Citizenship, Civil Society, Essential, Labor/Work, Liberal Learning, Thomas Jefferson|

The assumptions linked to the more deliberative, publicly responsible model of citizenship, though utopian and far-fetched at least within the perspective of modern, western society, can be thought of in a way that makes them seem more practical. Thomas Jefferson, for example, believed both that good government was possible only when those who governed were [...]

James Madison and the Making of America

By |2020-06-22T15:20:14-05:00January 10th, 2013|Categories: American Republic, Books, Constitution, James Madison, Kevin Gutzman|Tags: |

It is “dearest to my heart and dearest in my convictions,” the dying James Madison said, “that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated.” It was this Union, conceived, framed, ratified, explained, implemented, defended, and cherished by Madison, that Kevin Gutzman cogently and rightly sees as the essential “making of America.” James Madison [...]

Go to Top