RESEARCH

American Exceptionalism
Carr Center Looks at the Paradox

When a report comes out exposing the latest human rights abuse around the world, many Americans are outraged. They write letters to the editor and call for international intervention. Shouts of “freedom!” and “fair treatment!” are heard.

But does the United States practice what it preaches? Yes, say some, proudly pointing to the world’s oldest Bill of Rights. America is an exceptional country, they say, a model to be followed.

But others disagree. America refuses to sign accords embraced by other countries — the Mine Ban Treaty, for instance. And other than Iran, it’s the only country in the world that executes juveniles. The United States, they contend, is a hypocritical nation that believes it’s more exceptional than any other country.

Exceptional. Same word used by both camps but with very different connotations.

Michael Ignatieff, director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, believes both uses are valid. So in order to dive into the debate, he launched the “American Exceptionalism” project with seed funding from the Norman and Rosita Winston Foundation. Based on a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 book, Democracy in America, the project is looking at the uniqueness of American human rights culture (the positive side) and America’s habit of exempting itself from human rights obligations (the negative side).

“What makes America distinctive is its rights culture,” says Ignatieff, noting the country’s coveted free speech laws and strong leadership by people like Eleanor Roosevelt, whose work on the 1948 United Declaration of Human Rights was considered seminal. “The United States is an exceptional leader, but it’s also increasingly out of step with international human rights standards.”

This “paradoxical struggle,” as he calls it, certainly isn’t a new one.

“There’s been an argument about American exceptionalism from the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,” he says. In 1630, John Winthrop, the first governor, called the new nation a “shining city on a hill.” President Washington noted American exceptionalism in his farewell address. More recently, President Bush pledged in his 2001 inaugural speech to build “a single nation of justice and opportunity.”

“The Carr Center is coming into the debate 350 plus years later,” Ignatieff jokes.

A collection of essays based on the lecture series is due out next year.