Jamaican political processes: A system in search of a paradigm

This paper critically examines the explanations for the remarkable stability in the Jamaican socio‐political system provided by conflict pluralist, charismatic authority, dependency and patron‐client approaches. A variation of the patron‐client approach involving three interrelated levels (one external and two internal) is proposed as an alternative conceptual framework. The usefulness of the approach is demonstrated in an analysis of the defeat of the Manley government in the 1980 elections. Attention is drawn to the dynamic interrelationship between internal and external forces, and it is suggested that electoral behaviour during the 1980 elections was largely dictated by existing patron‐client relations.