Procurement Circuit under Machine Learning Political Order - Governance of, through, and for AI

Aug 4, 2026

Upload by Patrick

In a landscape where governments are shaped by and depend on private AI providers, the central question becomes what it means to govern artificial intelligence. Public procurement is treated as a strategic intervention point where state incentives to embed digital expertise can be stalled, challenged, and scrutinized through machine-learning logics. The thesis develops the procurement circuit concept to explain co-shaping between governments and AI providers. It examines Canada’s Responsible AI Strategy, mapping authority and legitimacy allocation, and argues Canada’s regulatory architecture reflects a Machine Learning political order.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages93

Reading Time3 h 54 min

AccessFree to download

Chapter 1. Introduction

Theoretical Framework

Structure

Chapter 2. Literature Review

Chapter 3. Methodology

Access to Information Requests

The map is the territory, but the map is a flow + fluidity of ethics

Chapter 4. Procurement

What is the AI source list?

How does AI procurement work?

Chapter 5. The M3 category and foreclosure of AI ethics

Context: Reading the map

Clusters: Why bother qualifying 'AI ethics'?

Chapter 6. Conclusion: Governance of, through and for AI

Why does this matter

Consequences and next steps

Chapter 7. Reflexive analysis

Bibliography

Appendix

ATIP Request

GC Flowchart interested departments

Procurement Circuit under Machine Learning Political Order: Governance of, through, and for AI Meaghan Wester A Thesis In the Department of Communication Studies Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts (Media Studies) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada March 2023 © Meaghan Wester, 2023 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Meaghan Wester Entitled: Procurement Circuit under Machine Learning Political Order: Governance of, through, and for AI and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Media Studies) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Third Reader Dr. Joanna Redden Second Reader Dr. Krista Lynes Thesis Supervisor Dr. Fenwick McKelvey Approved by Dr. Fenwick McKelvey, Graduate Program Director Pascale Sicotte, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science 04/04/2023 Abstract Procurement Circuit under Machine Learning Political Order: Governance of, through, and for AI Meaghan Wester In a landscape where governments are shaped by and depend on private AI providers, what does it mean to govern artificial intelligence (AI)? Public procurement is a point of intervention where the entrepreneurial pull of states to integrate digital expertise andreformulate its problem within machine-learning logics can be halted, questioned and examined. This thesis examines public procurement of AI as a crucial site where governments and AI providers engage in a complex co-shaping process, which I term the procurement circuit. Specifically, the thesis examines Canada’s procurement of AI as part ofits national Responsible AI Strategy. Through situational analysis, this thesis maps and explains how this co-shaping occurs and considers how the procurement circuit distributes authority and legitimacy over normative questions on AI between AI providers and government. I argue that Canada's regulatory architecture is built under what Louise Amoore coined Machine Learning (ML) political order. Chapter 3 maps the regulatory architecture Canada built to enforce Responsible AI and evaluate suppliers. Chapter 4 considers 11 suppliers’responses to these requirements and outlines their normative views on both AI and its governance. In conclusion, I suggest recommendations on how Canada might reformulate the procurement circuit as a space where legitimacy and authority is negotiated to resist ML political order. Table of Content Chapter 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Theoretical Framework ..............................................................................................................3 Structure .....................................................................................................................................8 Chapter 2. Literature Review ................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 3. Methodology ..........................................................................................................21 Access to Information Requests...............................................................................................23 The map is the territory, but the map is a flow + fluidity of ethics..........................................26 Chapter 4. Procurement ...........................................................................................................29 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................29 What is the AI source list? ............................................................................

FAQs

Why is public procurement considered a key site for governing AI?

Because procurement is an intervention point where states’ entrepreneurial pull to embed digital expertise can be halted, questioned, and examined through machine-learning logics.

What concept does the thesis use to describe government and provider interaction?

The thesis terms this co-shaping process the “procurement circuit,” describing how authority and legitimacy over AI normative questions are distributed.

How does the thesis characterize Canada’s Responsible AI regulatory architecture?

It argues that Canada’s regulatory architecture is built under a Machine Learning (ML) political order, which structures how responsibility is enforced and suppliers are evaluated.

Aug 4, 2026

Upload by Patrick