Democratization/ Governmentalization of Foreign Policy: The Case of the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security

Citation:

Wada, Kenji. 2008. “Democratization/ Governmentalization of Foreign Policy: The Case of the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security.” Paper presented at the International Studies Association’s 49th Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA, March 26-29.

Author: Kenji Wada

Abstract:

The Canadian government established the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security (CCWPS) to mobilize three types of actors, civil society representatives, government officials and parliamentarians, toward the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 at the domestic level. The aim of this essay is to examine the politico-economic implications of CCWPS by analyzing “the democratization of foreign policy,” which encouraged the Canadian government to incorporate civil society actors into foreign policy-making processes, in the framework of the administrative-financial reform implemented in the mid-1990s. In this respect, the employment of Foucauldian perspective allows us to consider the aspect of CCWPS as a “government,” and the shift in the rationality of government from “excessive government” to “frugal government” urges civil society actors to incorporate in “a whole variety of complex assemblages.” In this view, this essay will argue that CCWPS was a space where the state transferred authority and responsibility for parts of its tasks in order to achieve more efficient and effective government rather than to enhance democracy.

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Women, Governance, Peace Processes, Security, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325 Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Canada

Year: 2008