DOCSLIB.ORG

Jamaica Country Report BTI 2008

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Jamaica Country Report BTI 2008 BTI 2008 | Jamaica Country Report Status Index 1-10 7.65 # 21 of 125 Democracy 1-10 8.55 # 18 of 125 Market Economy 1-10 6.75 # 37 of 125 Management Index 1-10 5.71 # 42 of 125 scale: 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) score rank trend This report is part of the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) 2008. The BTI is a global ranking of transition processes in which the state of democracy and market economic systems as well as the quality of political management in 125 transformation and developing countries are evaluated. The BTI is a joint project of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Center for Applied Policy Research (C•A•P) at Munich University. More on the BTI at http://www.bertelsmann-transformation-index.de/ Please cite as follows: Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI 2008 — Jamaica Country Report. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2007. © 2007 Bertelsmann Stiftung, Gütersloh BTI 2008 | Jamaica 2 Key Indicators Population mn. 2.7 HDI 0.72 GDP p.c. $ 3,817 Pop. growth1 % p.a. 0.5 HDI rank of 177 104 Gini Index 45.5 Life expectancy years 71 UN Education Index 0.79 Poverty3 % 14.4 Urban population % 53.1 Gender equality2 - Aid per capita $ 14.7 Sources: UNDP, Human Development Report 2006 | The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2007 | OECD Development Assistance Committee 2006. Footnotes: (1) Average annual growth rate 1990-2005. (2) Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). (3) Percentage of population living on less than $2 a day. Executive Summary In October 2002, the People’s National Party (PNP), under the leadership of Percival J. Patterson, became the first political party to win four consecutive general elections. Subsequently, a change in leadership of both major political parties, the PNP and the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), late in the legislative period precipitated a watershed period in Jamaica’s political development. In 2006, Portia Simpson-Miller was sworn in as the country’s seventh – and first female – prime minister, after a divisive, close internal election campaign for the presidency of the party, which she won over rivals Minister of National Security Peter Phillips, and Minister of Finance and Planning Omar Davies. As the most popular politician in at least ten years, Prime Minister Simpson-Miller enjoyed 78% popular support in national polls taken shortly after her election. This popularity was short-lived however; six weeks after her appointment, the rating dropped by 14%. Her popularity both outside and within her party fell due to the perception of many that she was unable to manage internal differences successfully and lacked the leadership skills and capacity to rally the various internal factions around her vision for the country. Bruce Golding, leader of the Opposition Labour Party, is seen by some as having successfully transformed the Jamaica Labour Party into “a unified political machinery.” He is admired for his ability to grasp difficult concepts and maintain the necessary firm leadership. Reform of the electoral process has resulted in a more transparent system and fewer political abuses. However, violent crime, abuses by security forces, corruption in both public and private sectors, and drug-related criminal networks with global connections are matters for great concern. Jamaica is not undergoing a system transformation from an undemocratic, non-market system to a market-based democracy. Jamaica is a long- standing democracy and has a free market economy. However, Jamaica, like other Latin American countries, had to disengage from an economic sector strongly regulated by the state – a process that is not completed yet in all domains, particularly regarding BTI 2008 | Jamaica 3 the evolution of dynamic competition. Jamaica must strengthen and deepen democratic institutions and practices and shape the evolving market economy, such that the most vulnerable in society do not disproportionately bear the burden of adjustment. During the period under review, Jamaica has continued to struggle with the same problems that were apparent five years ago, but are now subject to an increasingly globalized environment. Although there have been slight improvements in some areas, internal and external factors have also brought about several setbacks, the net result of which has been only a small improvement in economic growth during the evaluation period. Levels of poverty and unemployment remain deplorable. Jamaica faces formidable economic problems, some beyond the scope of its decision-makers. Given that the country maintained the levels of economic prosperity enjoyed in the 1990s, and its social and economic indicators are improving (or at least not drastically worsening), this is a noteworthy management success. Decision-makers are pursuing reform and structural adjustment programs in cooperation with industrialized nations and multilateral financial institutions. History and Characteristics of Transformation In Jamaica’s first Parliament and local bodies for autonomous administration, the majority of the population, who were descendents of slaves from Africa, was not represented. Slavery was abolished in 1838, and labor unions and political parties that initiated the democratic process were formed during the social unrest of the late 1930s. Jamaica held its first general election with universal adult suffrage in 1944, in which the people elected a Parliament with national legislative power, experienced a phase of self-government and went on to achieve full sovereignty in 1962. Jamaica is one of the few developing countries to have achieved independence during that era that has maintained a representative democracy, with 14 government changes achieved through general elections. Social inequality and racism, the legacy of Jamaica’s past as a slavery-based plantation economy, continue to haunt democracy and economic development in Jamaica. Features of the mono-culture plantation economy and institutions, which are generally not responsive to the needs of people living in poverty, also persist. Jamaica’s two leading political parties, the People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), alternated in having control of the government until the 1990s. The PNP was re-elected for a third term in 1997 and a fourth term in 2002. In the June 2003 elections, the Opposition JLP took control of the local government political machinery, winning eleven out of thirteen parish councils, breaking its losing streak. In 2004, however, demonstrating a partial recovery from the 2003 defeat, the PNP won two important by-elections at the local level, but has postponed the holding of island-wide local government elections, which were due in 2006.Researchers classify Jamaican democracy as a patronage-based democracy. One BTI 2008 | Jamaica 4 fundamental characteristic of this system is that its citizens, especially those in the lower income groups, are integrated into the political system through regular elections and patronage-based dependent relationships with their political parties. Political and criminal violence as well as by extreme polarization, driven by political tribalism between political parties and their constituents, sometimes accompany integration. Political analyst Robert Buddan accurately describes Jamaica’s political system as one that has alternated between high and moderate levels of consensual and tribal politics. Patronage-based democracy results in the breach of customary democratic rules and freedoms by the dominance of one party in some constituencies, particularly in the capital, Kingston. While this does not obstruct the overall political, social and economic development of the country, it severely undermines the orderly socioeconomic development of the affected communities. The Jamaican population, whose alienation from the political system is constantly growing, has been increasingly rejecting patronage-based democracy, and it has become equally difficult for both major parties to gain new supporters (PNP 31%, JLP 30%, no response/neither party 38%, December 2006) other than the “hardcore” party members. The initial immense popularity and immediate decline of the new female prime minister is a case in point. Reforms of the electoral system including the enactment of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica in 2006 and stricter procedures on election day before and during national and local elections, have reduced the influence of electoral fraud and violence significantly. Ideological polarization and confrontation was severe between the two parties in the 1970s. It peaked in 1980, when approximately 800 people died during the elections in that year. Relations between the parties were so strained by 1983 that the opposition PNP boycotted a snap election in protest of the surprise conditions in which the ruling JLP had called a new election. The boycott resulted in a Parliament without an opposition party for an entire election cycle. These polarized political divisions within Jamaica, embodied in the two parties’ ideologies and foreign policies, reflected a wider global conflict. Under the leadership of Michael Manley, the PNP aligned itself with countries of the Non-Aligned Movement and Cuba. The JLP, under the leadership of Edward Seaga, cooperated with the United States. Since the Cold War ended, both parties’ political positions have converged towards the center, which reflects the influence of the dominant trends in the global political economy. Violent crime is still one of the country’s largest problems. The JLP and PNP have pursued different economic development strategies.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Particulars of Claim in the Supreme Court Of
    PARTICULARS OF CLAIM IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE OF JAMAICA IN CIVIL DIVISION CLAIM NO. 2010 H. C. V. BETWEEN HAROLD BRADY CLAIMANT A N D HONOURABLE BRUCE GOLDING DEFENDANT 1. The Claimant is and was at all material times an Attorney-at-law and the Senior Partner with the law firm Brady & Company in the jurisdiction. 2. The Defendant is and was at all material times the Prime Minister of Jamaica and Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party. 3. The Claimant was called to the Jamaica Bar in 1979 and for over 30 years he has been one of Jamaica’s most eminent and established Attorneys-at-law. The Claimant started his legal career as an Associate in the law firm Dunn, Cox and Orrett, after which he left to start his own firm – Brady & Company- and from that time until now, the Claimant has been senior partner of this distinguished law firm. The Claimant has also been a devout and dedicated member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) for many years and a member of that organizations highest decision making body outside of its Annual Conference, the Central Executive from 1993 and remains so to this day. The Claimant also represented the JLP as its candidate in the Constituency of South East St. Andrew in the 2003 and 2007 General Elections. Page 2 of 9 4. The Claimant has had a long and distinguished legal career characterised by excellence, social responsibility and service to the citizens of Jamaica. As an Attorney-at-law and a senior member of the JLP, the Claimant has established contacts within the legal, business, social and political circles of Jamaica and internationally and was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1990 and a member of the Law Society, and a member of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association.
    [Show full text]
  • Non-State Actors in Jamaican Economic Policy
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2011 Non-state Actors In Jamaican Economic Policy Matthew W. Jarrett University of Central Florida Part of the International Relations Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Jarrett, Matthew W., "Non-state Actors In Jamaican Economic Policy" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 1749. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1749 NON-STATE ACTORS IN JAMAICAN ECONOMIC POLICY by MATTHEW W. JARRETT B.A. Florida Atlantic University, 2009 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Political Science in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2011 ©2011 Matthew W Jarrett ii ABSTRACT The relevance in understanding local dynamics or political culture is that as Neuman has pointed out, many traditional theories have not taken them into account and have thus failed in explaining political occurrences in the lesser developed world. For example as she has stated, “domestic factors” have not been considered into “systems theories”. (Neuman, 1995, p.16) On this basis, it is necessary to point out these local factors, and furthermore, the role of non-state actors within the realm of internal dynamics, since international relations theory also aims to understand the formation and motivation behind economic policy.
    [Show full text]
  • French Elections: Workers Win Big Victory -Pages 2, 7
    MAY 22, 1981 75 CENTS VOLUME 45/NUMBER 19 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY/PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE FRENCH ELECTIONS: WORKERS WIN BIG VICTORY -PAGES 2, 7 '· The plan Solidarity to slash with miners' strike workers' wages -PAGE 5 -PAGE 4 Black party leaders denounce FBI disruption -PAGE 12 In Our Opinion VOLUME .45/NUMBER 19 MAY 22, 1981 CLOSING NEWS DATE-MAY 13 United States, and around the world will be work force and an incredibly expensive substi­ U.S. workers & encouraged by this victory, which shows it is tute for personal retirement savings." possible for the workers to throw out right­ This reflects the bosses' mentality in a French elections wing capitalist governments. nutshell. As long as we produce profits for The May 10 election of Fran~;ois Mitterrand Mitterrand's election will give encourage­ them, they recognize that it is unfortunately as president of France is a victory for working ment to workers and peasants in the colonial necessary to provide us with some kind of people. and semi-colonial world, too. The French So­ wage-as long as we don't win "excessive" The Socialist Party candidate defeated in­ cialist Party is a member of the Socialist Increases. cumbent President Valery Giscard d'Estaing International, which opposes the brutal junta If we can't work any more, however, they by 52 to 48 percent. in El Salvador. Mitterrand is a member of the think we should be thrown on the scrap heap The French franc immediately plummeted. Committee for the Defense of the Revolution in like· a used-up machine.
    [Show full text]
  • Hon Andrew Holness Swearing-In Speech
    INAUGURATION ADDRESS INAUGURATION ADDRESS INAUGURATION ADDRESS INAUGURATION ADDRESS by the Honourable Andrew Holness, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Swearing-in Ceremony King’s House Designed & Printed by October 2011 Sunday, October 23, 2011 INAUGURATION ADDRESS INAUGURATION ADDRESS I know that a better politics which allows broad participation and honest conversation with the electorate will lead to better more sustainable policies to manage our economy and create jobs and opportunities. This is how we create a better Jamaican. Better politics, better policies, better people. I know the days ahead will not all be easy. I have found comfort in always lived my life, sums up how I intend to conduct myself in this some words accredited to Mother Teresa. It reflects how I have office. Paradoxical Commandments People are sometimes unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, no doubt you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. “Better Politics, Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Better Policies, Create anyway. Better People.” If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. I pledge to give my best, and with faithful prayers and hard work we will succeed.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.Jamaica: Forty Years of Independence
    Revista Mexicana del Caribe ISSN: 1405-2962 [email protected] Universidad de Quintana Roo México Mcnish, Vilma Jamaica: Forty years of independence Revista Mexicana del Caribe, vol. VII, núm. 13, 2002, pp. 181-210 Universidad de Quintana Roo Chetumal, México Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=12801307 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative 190/VILMAMCNISH INTRODUCTION ortyyearsagoonAugust6,1962Jamaicabecamean F independentandsovereignnationaftermorethan300 hundredyearsofcolonialismundertheBritishEmpire.Inthein- ternationalcontext,Jamaicaisarelativelyyoungcountry.Indeed, incontrasttothecountriesinLatinAmerica,Jamaicaandthe othercountriesoftheEnglish-speakingCaribbean,allformercolo- niesofGreatBritain,onlybecameindependentinthesecondhalf ofthe20thcentury.UnliketheirSpanish-speakingneighboursthere- fore,noneoftheseterritorieshadthedistinctionofbeingfound- ingmembersofeithertheUnitedNationsorthehemispheric bodytheOrganisationofAmericanStates. Thepurposeofmypresentationistopresentanoverview,a perspectiveofthepolitical,economicandculturaldevelopment ofJamaicaoverthesefortyyears.Butbeforedoingso,Ithinkit isimportanttoprovideahistoricalcontexttomodernJamaica. SoIwillstartwithabriefhistoryofJamaica,tracingthetrajec- toryofconquest,settlementandcolonisationtoemancipation, independenceandnationhood.
    [Show full text]
  • Research Commons at The
    http://waikato.researchgateway.ac.nz/ Research Commons at the University of Waikato Copyright Statement: The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis. WHEN CITIZEN POLITICS BECOMES UNCIVIL: Between Popular Protest, Civil Society and Governance in Jamaica. BY HUME NICOLA JOHNSON Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications, University of the West Indies, Jamaica Master of Science in Government, University of the West Indies, Jamaica A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE & PUBLIC POLICY THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO NEW ZEALAND DECEMBER 2006 ‘Hungry men and women have a right to call attention to their condition and to ask of people fulfilment of promises made to them so as long as they do so without using violence’. Rt. Excellent, Sir Alexander Bustamante, Trade Unionist, National Hero, and first Premier of Jamaica, 1938. ii Abstract _________________________________________ This thesis focuses on the problem of incivility within the domains of citizen politics and civil society by exploring the proclivity for popular protest in Jamaica and the intersections between popular citizen protest, civil society and governance in this context.
    [Show full text]
  • Democracy in the Caribbean a Cause for Concern
    DEMOCRACY IN THE CARIBBEAN A CAUSE FOR CONCERN Douglas Payne April 7, 1995 Policy Papers on the Americas Democracy in the Caribbean A Cause for Concern Douglas W. Payne Policy Papers on the Americas Volume VI Study 3 April 7, 1995 CSIS Americas Program The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), founded in 1962, is an independent, tax-exempt, public policy research institution based in Washington, DC. The mission of CSIS is to advance the understanding of emerging world issues in the areas of international economics, politics, security, and business. It does so by providing a strategic perspective to decision makers that is integrative in nature, international in scope, anticipatory in timing, and bipartisan in approach. The Center's commitment is to serve the common interests and values of the United States and other countries around the world that support representative government and the rule of law. * * * CSIS, as a public policy research institution, does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this report should be understood to be solely those of the authors. © 1995 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This study was prepared under the aegis of the CSIS Policy Papers on the Americas series. Comments are welcome and should be directed to: Joyce Hoebing CSIS Americas Program 1800 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 Phone: (202) 775-3180 Fax: (202) 775-3199 Contents Preface .....................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Ideology and Educational Aims: the Case of Jamaica By
    IDEOLOGY AND EDUCATIONAL AIMS: THE CASE OF JAMAICA BY Joseph A. Walker, Ph.D. College of the Bahamas Oakes Field Campus ABSTRACT This research is basically a descriptive Predicated partly on-this criticism of the study. Its purpose was to determine the prevailing education in Jamaica, and extent to which the aims and policies of partly on a firm commitment to ~ social­ education under the Jamaica Labour Party istic ideology of economic and educational (J.L.P.) differed from the aims and policies organization, the Manley government (the of education under the People's National People's National Party) on the advent of Party (P.N.P.). It was anticipated that, its reascension to political power in 1972, given the differing self-proclaimed ideolog­ asserted its intent to seek political, ical cleavages of the J.L.P. (capitalism) economic, and educational development and the P.N.P. (socialism), there would be through socialistic means. The Jamaica marked differences in their educational Labour Party, its predecessor, on its aims. The analysis revealed, however, that ascension to political power in 1962, had, if there .were ideological difference, these in contrast, chosen to seek political, were not easily detected from the rhetoric economic, and educational development of their educational aims. The differences largely through capitalistic means. observed were largely in terms of emphasis and in the particular means and priorities The purpose of this paper, therefore, is designed to achieve their statt;d obj ectives. to examine the impact of these political decisions on the educational system of INTRODUCTION Jamaica from 1960 to 1980.
    [Show full text]
  • Einaudi Serials Inventory
    Einaudi Serials Inventory Title Volume/No. Year Pais Notes 1 1999 Index of Economic Freedom 1999 2 4 Años de Revolución Perú 3 7 Días del Perú y del mundo 1976 4 A Descriptive List of Research Papers and Theses 1954 5 A Foreign Affairs Budget for the Future 2008 The American Academy of Diplomacy 6 A Guide to the American Bicentennial from 1975 Encyclopedia Britanica-Two Hundred Years of Liberty 7 A Lot to do: A Report Card on Education in Central 2007 America and the Dominican Republic 8 A Mandate for Leadership Project Issues 2000 2000 9 A Plan for Fully Funding the Recommendations of 1987 The National Bipartisan Commission on Central America 10 A Rand Note 1983-1985 11 A Report by Managing Global Insecurity 2008 12 A Report on a Survey in Ecuador on Standardization 1972 and Measurement services in support of industrialization goals 13 A Short History of Kingston Part 1 1976 14 Academia Las palomas de San Jerónimo XIII Festival 15 Adventure and Hope: Christians and the Crisis in 1983 Central America 16 AEI Foreign Policy and Defense Review 1985 17 AFFARI ESTERI Revista Trimestrale 1973 18 Agreement Between the United States of America 1974 and Peru 19 Alexis de Tocqueville Institution Cuban in Transition 1999 20 Alianza Centroamericana para el Desarrollo 1998 Sostenible 21 Alternatives for Canal Administration 1987 22 Amazonia - Photography Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars 23 America in the 1970's 1970 24 America Latina 3 1975 25 American Opinion - The Matter of Felipe Pazos, Peril Vol.V, No.6 1962 An Informal Review in Mexico 26 American Public Opinion and U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • JAMAICA COUNTRY of ORIGIN INFORMATION (COI) REPORT COI Service
    JAMAICA COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION (COI) REPORT COI Service 15 January 2013 JAMAICA 15 JANUARY 2013 Contents Preface Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................... 1.01 Maps ......................................................................................................................... 1.03 2. ECONOMY .................................................................................................................. 2.01 3. HISTORY ..................................................................................................................... 3.01 Prior to 1990 ............................................................................................................ 3.01 1990 – April 2010 .................................................................................................... 3.03 May 2010 – September 2011 .................................................................................. 3.07 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ............................................................................................. 4.01 September 2011 – December 2012 ....................................................................... 4.01 5. CONSTITUTION ............................................................................................................ 5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM ...................................................................................................... 6.01 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION
    [Show full text]
  • In Contemporary Jamaica There Are Two Major Political Parties
    Rex McKenzie The Party & The Garrison Aug 2005 Introduction This work is intended to be a scholarly contribution in the area of Caribbean Political Economy. It is premised on the notion that the peculiar history of Jamaica, the slave plantation origin through to the colonial, neocolonial and post colonial forms of economic organization tend to the formation and reproduction of the total institution as a system of social organization.1 RT Smith in the original application of the Goffman concept of the total institution to plantation society describes it as a bureaucratically organized system in which blocks of people are treated as units and are marched through a set of regimented activities under the close surveillance of a small supervisory staff. 2 With regard to the social system and the corresponding social relations causality is assumed to flow from the political system and the political culture. In the post independence period (after 1962) patron-client relations between the state, its institutions and sections of the urban poor emerge as the defining social relationships of the social system as a whole. But these relationships are rooted in the history of the island with the relationship between the plantation owner (or his representative) and the slave exhibiting similar pronounced patron-client features. In my formulation the post independence emergence of the garrison constituency is construed as part of the historical imperative toward culturally familiar total institution forms of social management. Figueroa 1 The idea of the total institutions comes from Goffman’s 1960’s work on Asylums. In it small socially recognizable groups drive a larger group in through the production process in a very regimented and differentiated manner.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolution of Political Violence in Jamaica 1940-1980
    The Evolution of Political Violence in Jamaica 1940-1980 Kareen Felicia Williams Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2011 Copyright 2011 Kareen Williams All rights reserved. ABSTRACT The Evolution of Political Violence in Jamaica 1940-1980 Kareen Williams By the 1960s violence became institutionalized in modern Jamaican politics. This endemic violence fostered an unstable political environment that developed out of a symbiotic relationship between Jamaican labor organizations and political violence. Consequently, the political process was destabilized by the corrosive influence of partisan politics, whereby party loyalists dependent on political patronage were encouraged by the parties to defend local constituencies and participate in political conflict. Within this system the Jamaican general election process became ominous and violent, exemplifying how limited political patronage was dispersed among loyal party supporters. This dissertation examines the role of the political parties and how they mobilized grassroots supporters through inspirational speeches, partisan ideology, complex political patronage networks, and historic party platform issues from 1940 through 1980. The dissertation argues that the development of Jamaican trade unionism and its corresponding leadership created the political framework out of which Jamaica’s two major political parties, the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) and People’s National Party
    [Show full text]