Démarche

Not to be confused with Sortition, also known as a demarchy.

A démarche (/deɪˈmɑːrʃ/; from the French word whose literal meaning is "gait") has come to refer either to

Diplomatic démarches are delivered to the appropriate official of the government or organization. Démarches generally seek to persuade, inform, or gather information from a foreign government. Governments may also use a démarche to protest or object to actions by a foreign government. Informally, the word is sometimes used as a verb to describe making or receiving such correspondence.

The U.S. government defines démarche as "a request or intercession with a foreign official, e.g., a request for support of a policy, or a protest about the host government's policy or actions".

The US government issues démarches to foreign governments through "front-channel cable" instructions from the United States Department of State. Although the content of a given démarche may originate in another U.S. government agency, only the Department of State may instruct a post to deliver the démarche. Unless specifically authorized by the Department of State, posts should not act on instructions transmitted directly from another post, or from another agency, whether by cable or other means (e.g. e-mail, fax, or phone).

Any Department of State officer or other official under the authority of the chief of mission can make a démarche. Unless the Department provides specific instructions as to rank (for example: "the Ambassador should call on the Foreign Minister"), the post has discretion to determine who should make the presentation and which official(s) in the host government should receive it.

Démarche instruction cables from the Department should include the following elements:

Upon receipt of démarche instructions from the Department, posts should make every effort to deliver the démarche to the appropriate foreign government official(s) as soon as possible.

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