Created as part of the 2013 Jackson School for International Studies SIS 495: Task force. Brian Baird, Task Force Advisor; Margaret Scobey, Evaluator; Hannah Paukstis and Crystal Zhu, Coordinators.In order to highlight the necessity of promoting First Amendment rights guaranteed in the
United States Constitution as part of foreign policy committed to democratic advancement
abroad, our Task Force has created the following report that examines both the intrinsic value
behind these rights and offers creative, specifically tailored policy recommendations to
implement the strategies we find particularly useful in addressing this issue. Successfully
generating and constructing policy to promote U.S. interests from a position of universal
morality and global self-interest is essential to the recognition and advancement First
Amendment rights as part of American influence abroad. In the past, U.S. foreign policy has
been concerned with promotion of democracy but not specifically with advocating for and
increasing access to the fundamental freedoms of the First Amendment. The freedoms of
religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly may not be well integrated into the political
systems of nations where democracy is absent, nascent, unstable, or failing to thrive. There must
be public interest and support for these freedoms as well as governmental practices that align
with them; simple democratic processes and a vote are not enough to make a democracy function
to its fullest potential
