Public Opinion in the Development of Foreign Policy in French Pacific Territories: The Example of New Caledonia

Abstract

The extent to which public opinion might have informed the development of foreign policy in French Pacific Territories raises a number of more far-reaching questions. Among them, whether or not public opinion can have any significant influence on major decisions in foreign policy and whether or not elements of direct democracy can be successfully integrated into the development of foreign policy. The example of New Caledonia1 and the development of its external relations over the past ten years are explored in this chapter and demonstrate to what extent and in what ways those questions may, indeed, be answered in the affirmative.