Title 22 — Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73

§8203 Definitions

Title 22 › Chapter CHAPTER 89— - ADVANCING DEMOCRATIC VALUES › § 8203

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines key words used in the chapter. "Annual Report on Advancing Freedom and Democracy" means the yearly report the Department of State sends to Congress under section 665(c) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107–228; 22 U.S.C. 2151n note) about U.S. actions to promote human rights and democracy. "Appropriate congressional committees" means the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. "Assistant Secretary" means the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. "Community of Democracies" or "Community" means the group of democratic countries that promote democratic values worldwide and held its first ministerial meeting in Warsaw, Poland, in June 2000. "Department" means the Department of State. A "nondemocratic country" or "democratic transition country" includes any country not run by a fully functioning democracy, as the Secretary decides by looking at major nongovernmental organizations’ views and whether the country meets key factors such as political participation, free and fair elections, multiple parties, basic freedoms and a free media, lawful change of government, an independent judiciary and respect for the rule of law, compliance with core U.N. and human-rights instruments (including United Nations Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1499/57 and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/96), and, where relevant, favorable scores on the political, civil liberties, corruption, and rule of law indicators used for Millennium Challenge Account aid. "Secretary" means the Secretary of State.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §8203

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

In this chapter:

(1)The term “Annual Report on Advancing Freedom and Democracy” refers to the annual report submitted to Congress by the Department of State pursuant to section 665(c) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107–228; 22 U.S.C. 2151n note), in which the Department reports on actions taken by the United States Government to encourage respect for human rights and democracy.

(2)The term “appropriate congressional committees” means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

(3)The term “Assistant Secretary” means the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

(4)The terms “Community of Democracies” and “Community” mean the association of democratic countries committed to the global promotion of democratic principles, practices, and values, which held its First Ministerial Conference in Warsaw, Poland, in June 2000.

(5)The term “Department” means the Department of State.

(6)The term “nondemocratic country” or “democratic transition country” shall include any country which is not governed by a fully functioning democratic form of government, as determined by the Secretary, taking into account the general consensus regarding the status of civil and political rights in a country by major nongovernmental organizations that conduct assessments of such conditions in countries and whether the country exhibits the following characteristics:

(A)All citizens of such country have the right to, and are not restricted in practice from, fully and freely participating in the political life of such country.

(B)The national legislative body of such country and, if directly elected, the head of government of such country, are chosen by free, fair, open, and periodic elections, by universal and equal suffrage, and by secret ballot.

(C)More than one political party in such country has candidates who seek elected office at the national level and such parties are not restricted in their political activities or their process for selecting such candidates, except for reasonable administrative requirements commonly applied in countries categorized as fully democratic.

(D)All citizens in such country have a right to, and are not restricted in practice from, fully exercising such fundamental freedoms as the freedom of expression, conscience, and peaceful assembly and association, and such country has a free, independent, and pluralistic media.

(E)The current government of such country did not come to power in a manner contrary to the rule of law.

(F)Such country possesses an independent judiciary and the government of such country generally respects the rule of law.

(G)Such country does not violate other core principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, United Nations Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1499/57 (entitled “Promotion of the Right to Democracy”), and the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/96 (entitled “Promoting and consolidating democracy”).

(H)As applicable, whether the country has scored favorably on the political, civil liberties, corruption, and rule of law indicators used to determine eligibility for financial assistance disbursed from the Millennium Challenge Account.

(7)The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of State.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 8203

Title 22 — Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73