Wishful thinking: Democracy promotion in the Americas under Harper

The following analysis is divided into four parts. First, I review the various explanations given in the academic literature for Canada's uneven policy performance on democracy promotion and on the Americas in general. I emphasize the potential usefulness of an analytical approach that emphasizes the social construction of democracy promotion in Latin America and the Caribbean as a national interest. In a second section I evaluate the rhetoric, versus the reality, of democracy promotion in the western hemisphere under the Harper government. Third, I attribute the Harper government's weak policy performance to difficulties in framing the Canadian advancement of democracy in the region as a national priority. In a concluding section I stress the need for a revisionist exercise to attune Canadian policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean to Canada's national interests. Adapted from the source document.