Between ballots and bullets: elections and citizenship in and beyond the nation-state

This article approaches electoral acts and performances as central sites for the negotiation of citizenship relations. I argue that, in order to understand how these relationships are shaped, we must attend to governmental actors beyond the nation-state, from trade unions to criminal organizations. Focusing on the case of Jamaica, I show how non-state actors have come to play a central role in hybrid forms of governance, shaping citizens' allegiances to multiple, overlapping political communities. How are campaigning and voting affected by such multiple allegiances? What new understandings of citizenship can we develop if we take the role of non-state actors in the electoral process seriously? I suggest that we should study elections as a site where citizenship – understood here in its broad sense of membership of a political community – can develop both within and beyond the nation-state.     

Neo-liberalism, 21st Century Caribbean General Elections and the Post-colonial Development Challenge

A striking feature of elections held in the independent English-speaking Caribbean since 2000 has been the tendency towards the rejection of incumbent governments, with many of them resulting in one-term administrations or weak majorities. This experience represents a sharp break from earlier electoral features of the post-colonial period such as mass loyalty to anti-colonial workers’ parties, regular and consistent alternations of two dominant parties in office, or alternatively the long-term dominance of a single party. This paper argues that the present hegemonic consolidation of neo-liberal globalisation has eroded the structural framework upon which the earlier legitimacy of the parties, leaders, ideologies and approaches to development had been constructed, and advances the notion of the ‘collapse of the post-colonial order’ as an explanation for the dominant electoral feature of anti-incumbency since 2000. While addressing developments in the independent English-speaking Caribbean territories as a whole, the paper concludes by presenting the case of Barbados as a concrete manifestation of these tendencies.     

Discourse Analysis on Media Reports of Perceptions About Religion as a Solution to Jamaica's Crime Problems

ABSTRACT

This discussion, which focuses on Jamaica's crime rates, explanations for these trends, and recommended solutions, is based on discourses about the role of religion in crime resolution and specifically on the issue of (re)integrating religion in addressing Jamaica's crime problems. The analysis draws on the content of news, editorials, commentaries, and letters to the editor in both the Jamaica Daily Gleaner and the Jamaica Observer on the topic of religion and crime. It also looks specifically at the disjuncture between perceptions of and by the church regarding its role in crime resolution.     

The Welfare Effects of Balance of Payments Reform: A Micro-Macro Simulation of the Cost of Rent-Seeking

This article proposes a methodology for analysing the effect of balance of payments liberalisation on measures of poverty and distribution and applies it to the case of Jamaica in the 1990s. The methodology consists of a macro-micro simulation in which a CGE model provides labour market outcomes, which in turn are used to manipulate the sectoral allocation of employment to generate the income distribution consistent with the new labour market outcome. In the application to Jamaica, we find that the reallocation of resources away from rent-seeking activities in the presence of exchange controls is significant and has large macroeconomic effects. Opening up of the current account has little effect on poverty, but liberalisation of the capital account reduces poverty, especially amongst the very poor. Neither policy change taken separately, nor the combination of the two, has more than a negligible effect on the distribution of income.     

Forecasting the 2016 General Election in Jamaica

The objective of the article is to explain the methodologies and the findings of the 2016 Jamaican General Election forecasts. The Good Judgment Project’s CHAMPSKNOW system was applied using qualitative and quantitative methods. The research question was: what were the probabilities of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) or the People’s National Party (PNP) winning the 25 February 2016 General Election? The data were drawn from election results and macro-economic variables from 1962 to 2015; polls from 1976 to 2016; campaign ads; election newspaper stories; constituency fund disbursements and independent surveys in marginal seats. The results showed that the JLP had a greater number of ads with better and clearer policy contents than the PNP ads. The JLP also received more positive news coverage during the campaign. MPs who spent a large part of their constituency funds on welfare were more likely to win. The PNP had more garrison, traditional and marginal seats than the JLP so the PNP had the edge. Moreover, the data from the independent surveys and the macro-economic analyses indicated the likelihood of a PNP win. The national polls revealed a statistical dead heat but the forecasts started with the governing PNP having a slightly greater probability of winning because of its active political business cycle in which the PNP was rolling out programmes throughout the country in the election year. The forecasts were revised when the JLP narrowed the gap because the PNP refused to participate in the national debate, which generated negative news about the PNP. The final forecast said the election would be close with the PNP having the edge. However, the JLP’s tax plan was a wild card, which gave the party the edge with a one-seat victory.     

Violence against Women in Politics: Female Politicians' Experience with Political Violence in Jamaica

This exploratory study describes the experiences of female politicians with political violence in Jamaica and the effect these encounters have had on them. The findings indicate that female politicians in Jamaica are affected by political violence before, during, and after an election, and even when they are in political office. Most of the violence experienced is of a gendered nature and can be defined as violence against women in politics. This study contributes to the growing body of scholarship on violence against women in politics by presenting and discussing findings from the Anglo Caribbean, an understudied region.     

The Repercussions of Brexit for CARICOM’s Cohesion

Abstract

Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has sent shockwaves not just within Europe but across the globe. In the Caribbean, it has heightened uncertainty about the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) ability to survive its own fissures, most recently expressed in Jamaica’s decision to review its membership of CARICOM. This article explores some of the challenges CARICOM is experiencing, in particular Jamaica’s dissatisfaction with and position within the group. It argues that despite parallels between Britain and Jamaica and their position in their respective groupings, the rationale for CARICOM is fundamentally different from that underlying the European integration experience. It concludes that CARICOM is unlikely to unfurl because the factors driving the process—small size, global marginality and common challenges—provide a strong impetus for their cohesion.     

The Creation of Community? Citizen Action,Social Movements,and the Portmore Toll Controversy

The building of a multi-lane tolled highway linking the suburban communities of Portmore to the capital city of Kingston in Jamaica has become the focus of citizen action from residents who are concerned about the nature of the toll and the inadequacy of alternative routes. This article assesses the extent to which this activity represents a genuine social movement; analyses the complex and ongoing negotiations between citizens, the state and global capital over the transformation of the urban environment; and discusses the relevance of this issue for a broader understanding of development.     

When Money is not Enough: Reggae,Dancehall, and Policy in Jamaica

This study highlights another disjuncture in the internationalization of the creative industries policy discourse, a postcolonial disjuncture. Despite reggae’s global popularity and the Jamaican government’s adoption of creative industries discourse, policies supporting the music industry remain lacking. This article demonstrates that economic value alone is not always enough to make a creative sector worthy of policy support, even after adoption of creative industries discourse. The sociocultural history and position of the creative sector are equally important. This article, by highlighting the social and cultural embeddedness of creative sectors, questions the social inclusion benefit assumed of creative industries-led development.