ABSTRACT
The original campaign to elevate human rights in US foreign policy did not aim to make them central but developed instead as a kind of sideshow. The campaign originated not in the executive branch, which has primary responsibility for foreign policy, but in Congress. It culminated in extensive human rights legislation that critically shaped the conduct of foreign policy but made no direct reference to human rights in the Soviet Union because its authors had no real concern about Soviet violations of human rights. The tough Soviet stance toward President Carter's human rights campaign apparently led to a weakening of US resolve to persist in it. A human rights campaign embarked upon by a great power entails large costs. The US government after all is not the last resort of human rights victims the world over. One of the strengths of democratic society is the private association whose members pursue common objectives.
