Component Leader: Paul Martin, in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Human Rights  

This theme expands our focus on toleration, religion, and democracy by exploring how the implementation of a key factor of liberalism and toleration in the modern world—human rights—is shaped by political and religious interests at the domestic and international levels.

A Faculty/Student Research Project in 2006/2007 will explore the “Tenth Anniversary Review of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998”. This Act created an International Religious Freedom Commission, a Government Office on Religious Freedom outside the State Department, an Ambassador at large, detailed annual reporting requirements, programs and allocations of funds for US missions abroad, and a special advisor to the National Security Council on international religious freedom. The Act also prescribed for presidential action targeted responses to violations of religious freedom. How have their various institutions been working? In what ways have they been productive and in what ways less so? What are the opinions of its domestic supporters today? How has the Act been perceived to work by other states? How have its provisions interacted with other aspects of US foreign policy?

This case study will be developed and taught as part of a new Graduate Research Seminar on “Religion, Rights and International Affairs” by Paul Martin. The aim of the course is to prepare graduate students in different disciplines to collect data and prepare policy papers in the area of religion and international affairs. So far there have been few studies of the impact of the law. The course therefore encourages students to interview and meet with some of the many actors inside and outside Congress who promoted the legislation and have been active in its implementation since.