University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1973 From crown colony to associate statehood : political change in Dominica, the Commonwealth West Indies. Cuthbert J. Thomas University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Thomas, Cuthbert J., "From crown colony to associate statehood : political change in Dominica, the Commonwealth West Indies." (1973). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 1879. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/1879 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ^^^^^^^ ^0 ASSOCIATE STATEHOOD: CHANGE POLITICAL IN DOMINICA, THE COMMONWEALTH WEST INDIES A Dissertation Presented By CUTHBERT J. THOMAS Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 1973 Major Subject Political Science C\ithbert J. Thomas 1973 All Rights Reserved FROM CROV/N COLONY TO ASSOCIATE STATEHOOD: POLITICAL CHANGE IN DOMINICA, THE COMMONWEALTH WEST INDIES A Dissertation By CUTHBERT J. THOMAS Approved as to stylq and content by; Dr. Harvey "T. Kline (Chairman of Committee) Dr. Glen Gorden (Head of Department) Dr» Gerard Braunthal^ (Member) C 1 Dro George E. Urch (Member) May 1973 To the Youth of Dominica who wi3.1 replace these colonials before long PREFACE My interest in Comparative Government dates back to ray days at McMaster University during the 1969-1970 academic year. My interest in that field was further heightened when I came into contact with Dr. Howard Wiarda at the University of Massachusetts. Studying under Professor Wiarda I decided to specialize in the area of Latin America and the Caribbean. During those three years I worked with Professor Wiarda and other graduate students at the University of Massachusetts, I was able to grapple with the concept of political change. 'Writing my dissertation on Dominica, I was able to utilize my knowledge of political change. I chose to write on Dominica— a member state of the British West Indies —because this is one of the areas I know well. It is a small country which makes such a study manageable. And besides, to the best of my knowledge, no complete political analysis of this country is presently available. Chapter I deals with the concept of "political change," which has been used instead of "political develop- on the ment." The latter word seems to impede agreement ensure a theoretical assumptions which are essential to in their clear cut understanding of the new nations In dealing with attempts to improve social conditions. vi politics, "development" seems to be too vulnerable to value-laden concepts. "Development" as it has been used, seems to imply change in a certain direction. In contrast, "change" is a less specific concept on which wider agree- ment as to meaning might be possible. It is more general, and is less likely to have value judgments built into its definition. It seems to be more neutral. A chapter is devoted solely to an examination of the many constitutions Dominica has had. Thus in a sense Chapter II is an extension of Chapter III in that, it examines the present constitutional arrangements in Dominica in relation to past constitutions. The consti- tutions of these colonial countries should always be examined because they have conditioned the behaviors of the actors in the political system. Chapter III takes a look at the impact of colonial- ism on the Dominican political system. The component parts the of the colonial situation are examined to determine possible effect these may have had on the present political system. analyzed in The political parties in Dominica are examined to Chapter IV. The functions of the parties are "better" Dominican see if they are working to produce a society. the activities of Chapter V describes and assesses powerful *. TV,-? c is-i <5 not the most the Black Power Movement. This vii interest group in Dominica, but it is the only group which has openly challenged the Government and other supportive groups in the system. Presently the group is weak, but its leadership is both young and intelligent. It is getting more cohesive, and within a few years other groups in Dominica, such as the Roman Catholic Church and business elements, will be forced to reckon with it. The many attempts at federating the British West Indian Islands are reviewed in Chapter VI. There have been two major attempts in recent times to form a "Westindian" nation, both having failed. Finally in the conclusion, the problems which con- front Dominica are reviewed. Possible solutions to these problems are stated. I have tried to make this study as comprehensive as I could. But it must be emphasized that this is a case study which deals specifically with Dominica, British West Indies. The findings here do not apply to all countries which were colonies. The problems of Dominica are unique in some ways, but they are not all that different from those found in the other former British colonies of the West Indies. Many of the problems, such as poverty or unemployment, are the same, but may be called by different names. in The usefulness of this case study really lies viii identifying and in attempting to solve the major problems which beset Dominica. If the leaders can agree with me that there are major problems in Dominica, then this study has more than an academic effect. At this point let me express my great appreciation to Dr. Harvey E. Kline for accepting to chair my disserta- tion committee. He did a fine job in questioning my ideas on the subject. He was most sensitive to the need of reading the sometimes disorderly manuscript very quickly. Thanks are also due to Dr. Gerard Braunthal for his many pointed comments on the study. He also did a good job in helping me finish my last few days at the University of Massachusetts. Finally thanks are due to Dr. George E. Urch for accepting to be the third reader of the study. These professors only helped. The errors and interpretations remain the property of this writer. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. POLITICAL CHANGE 1 II, CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS IN DOMINICA . 35 III. THE BRITISH VARIANT OF COLONIALISM IN THE BRITISH WEST INDIES 89 IV, THE PARTIES IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF DOMINICA 153 V. THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT IN DOMINICA. .213 VI, FEDERATIONS IN THE BRITISH WEST INDIES. .261 VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 312 APPENDICES 325 BIBLIOGRAPHY 342 ) LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page I. Dominica in Relation to Other Islands in the Caribbean II. Diagrammatic Representation of the Dominican Political System 30 III. Eastern Caribbean Islands 38 IV. Election Returns for Selected Candidates in Dominica between 1951 and 1957 165 V. Election Returns in Federal Elections 1958 173 VI, Election Returns in Dominica: The Labor Party in Relation to its Opponent between 1961 and 1970 181 VII, Kotorable Roads of Dominica 189 VIII. Black Pov.'er as Perceived by Forty-five Bureaucrats 243 IX. Number of Students Wrote-Passed Selected Subjects between 19?5 and 1971 253 X. Population and Number or Schools 255 XI. Map of the "Little Eight" 265 XII. Commonwealth Caribbean 267 XIII. British Aid to the Commonwealth Caribbean before and after Federation 296 XIV. National Income Figures for the British West Indies, 1957 303 CHAPTER I POLITICAL CHANGE Purpose The purpose of this chapter is to present the theo- retical framework for the study. It attempts to review the literature on political change with a view to extrapolating from the literature a meaningful description of what change in the colonial situation might entail. This is to facili- tate a clearer understanding of present day politics in Dominica. One cannot simply dismiss lightly the literature on political change, which has grown over the years, with the trite remark that it is neither value-free nor appli- cable to the emerging nations. This may be so, but ig- noring it might be likened to building a costly road to a certain point when there is one already available. By all means new paths should be created, especially if they lead to the desired destination more quickly, but the contour of the old tracks can be of great help, especially if these can be widened, precluding the great expense of building brand new ones. 2 Introduction Writing in 1966, Alfred Stepan lamented the fact that none of the major political scientists chose Latin America as an area of specialization to test their theories about nation-building. He was particularly disappointed since the study of a Latin American nation would have helped immensely in sharpening the tools used in studying politi- cal change. The same can be said for the Commonwealth Caribbean"'' countries since they too have many of the ills, albeit to a lesser extent in some cases, that Afro-Asian countries exhibit. The Caribbean v/as even better suited than Latin America for testing the models on development since they are relatively small. English is the main language spoken and it is relatively cheap to travel to and live in. But the Caribbean has been ignored, probably because its era of revolution was not upon it yet, in contrast to the exciting events in Africa and Asia. Political change, and henceforth referred to as change, is a very elusive concept which has aroused an enormous amount of emotionalism. It is accepted that a political system is not a static one which has led some political scientists to look at the development of nations this study the term Caribbean will be used to -•In West refer only to the former British Colonies in the with th Indies.