Democracy in the Commonwealth Caribbean

Democratization

Volumn 6, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 67-86

  Sutton, Paul ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF HULL   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEMOCRACY; POLITICAL CHANGE; POLITICAL SYSTEM;

CENTRAL AMERICA;

EID: 0032764310     PISSN: 13510347     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13510349908403597     Document Type: Article

References (55)

1. The Commonwealth Caribbean comprises 12 independent states and five dependent territories of the United Kingdom. The dependent territories have political systems that in many respects are similar to those of the independent countries, but to include them would require important qualifications to some of the arguments presented. The Commonwealth Caribbean thus comprises Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.
2. Three are of particular significance: Jorge I. Dominguez, Robert A. Pastor and R. DeLisle Worrell (eds.), Democracy in the Caribbean: Political, Economic and Social Perspectives (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993); Carlene J. Edie (ed.), Democracy in the Caribbean: Myths and Realities (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994); and Ivelaw L. Griffith and Betty N. Sedoc-Dahlberg (eds.), Democracy and Human Rights in the Caribbean (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997).
3. Three are of particular significance: Jorge I. Dominguez, Robert A. Pastor and R. DeLisle Worrell (eds.), Democracy in the Caribbean: Political, Economic and Social Perspectives (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993); Carlene J. Edie (ed.), Democracy in the Caribbean: Myths and Realities (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994); and Ivelaw L. Griffith and Betty N. Sedoc-Dahlberg (eds.), Democracy and Human Rights in the Caribbean (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997).
4. Three are of particular significance: Jorge I. Dominguez, Robert A. Pastor and R. DeLisle Worrell (eds.), Democracy in the Caribbean: Political, Economic and Social Perspectives (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993); Carlene J. Edie (ed.), Democracy in the Caribbean: Myths and Realities (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994); and Ivelaw L. Griffith and Betty N. Sedoc-Dahlberg (eds.), Democracy and Human Rights in the Caribbean (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997).
5. Evelyn Huber, 'The Future of Democracy in the Caribbean', in Dominguez et al., Democracy in the Caribbean, pp.74-95, at p.80.
6. See, in particular, Carl Stone, 'A Political Profile of the Caribbean', in R. Price and S. Mintz (eds.), Caribbean Contours (Baltimore, MD and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985), pp.13-53.
7. This is not as well known as it should be. For example, in his celebrated book The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (Norman, OK and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991), Samuel Huntington produces a table estimating the number of democratic and non-democratic states but excludes those with a population under a million. Since most of these were democratic the incidence of democracy is higher than is suggested.
8. Anthony Payne, 'Westminster Adapted: The Political Order of the Commonwealth Caribbean', in Dominguez et al., Democracy in the Caribbean, pp.57-73.
9. Nine of the 12 independent Commonwealth Caribbean states recognize the British Queen as head of state, as represented by a locally appointed governor-general. Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago are republics, although the powers of the president are circumscribed and overshadowed by those of the prime minister.
10. See Sir Fred Phillips, West Indian Constitutions: Post Independence Reform (New York: Oceana Publications Inc., 1985).
11. See Paul Sutton, 'Politics in the Commonwealth Caribbean: The Post-Colonial Experience,' European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, No. 51 (Dec. 1991), pp.51-66.
12. Ibid., p.54.
13. Patrick A.M. Emmanuel, Elections and Party Systems in the Commonwealth Caribbean, 1944-1991 (Barbados: Caribbean Development Research Services, 1992).
14. See Humberto Garcia Muniz, Boots, Boots, Boots: Intervention, regional security and militarization in the Caribbean 1979-1986 (Puerto Rico: Caribbean Project for Justice and Peace, Militarism Series 2, June 1986).
15. The report was published in a revised and expanded form as Patrick A.M. Emmanuel, Governance and Democracy in the Commonwealth Caribbean: An Introduction (Barbados: Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies, 1993). The West Indian Commission, appointed by heads of government in the region, has been the single most important body to address the problems of the Commonwealth Caribbean in recent years.
16. See Caribbean Insight, Vol.21, No.7 (July 1998).
17. See W. Bell (ed.), The Democratic Revolution in the West Indies (Cambridge, MA: Schenkman, 1967).
18. Paget Henry, 'Political Accumulation and Authoritarianism in the Caribbean: The Case of Antigua', Social and Economic Studies, Vol.40, No.1 (1991), pp.1-38, at p.26.
19. See Sutton, 'Politics in the Commonwealth Caribbean', p.56.
20. See Ann Marie Bissessar, 'Administrative Reform in the Commonwealth Caribbean', in John Gaffar LaGuerre (ed.), Issues in the Government and Politics of the West Indies (St. Augustine, Trinidad: School of Continuing Studies, University of the West Indies, 1997), pp.102-41.
21. Emmanuel, Government and Democracy in the Commonwealth Caribbean, p.111.
22. West Indian Commission (Chairman: Sir Shridath Ramphal), Time for Action: Report of the West Indian Commission (Black Rock, Barbados: The West Indian Commission, 1992), at p.494 and p.508.
23. Anthony Hill, 'Symposium on Development', cited in Selwyn Ryan, 'Democratic Governance and the Social Condition in the Anglophone Caribbean', in United Nations Development Programme, Governance and Democratic Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (New York: UNDP, 1996), pp.39-62 at p.39.
24. Ryan, 'Democratic Governance and the Social Condition in the Anglophone Caribbean', p.40.
25. There is an extensive literature on structural adjustment in the Caribbean. For a recent review see Ramesh Ramsaran, 'Reflections on Development and Structural Adjustment in the Commonwealth Caribbean', in LaGuerre (ed.), Issues in the Government and Politics of the West Indies, pp.75-101.
26. C.Y. Thomas, 'The Interrelationship between Economic and Social Development', in Norman Girvan (ed.), Poverty, Empowerment and Social Development in the Caribbean (Barbados: University of the West Indies: Canoe Press, 1997), pp.20-49 at pp.37-40.
27. Time For Action, p. 493.
28. The 'quality of democracy' is discussed in Dorith Grant-Wisdom, 'Globalization, Structural Adjustment, and Democracy in Jamaica', in Griffith and Sedoc-Dahlberg (eds), Democracy and Human Rights in the Caribbean, pp.193-211.
29. Time For Action, pp.343-5. Typical of the comments expressed is those of an expert group from the European Union who investigated the problem in depth in 1996: 'Apart from the odd exception, all these countries have democratic governments supported by democratic institutions, making it one of the most democratic areas of the world. The seeds of democracy were deeply imbedded and flourished. Until now, these institutions in the Caribbean have been able to withstand the odd incidence of instability and economic depression. But now Caribbean democracy is under threat. The plants are beginning to wither from the onslaught of the drug menace.' European Commission, The Caribbean and The Drugs Problem (Report of EU Experts Group, April 1996), mimeo., p.1.
30. The following are a selection of comments from recent reports: 'In the Eastern Caribbean, corruption among public officials is rarely met with strong countermeasures' (1995); on the Bahamas, 'the current weaknesses of the judicial system reduce the possibility that narcotics traffickers and corrupt officials who assist them will serve appropriately lengthy prison sentences' (1996); on Trinidad and Tobago, 'Investigations of official corruption are uncommon' (1996); on Jamaica ,'No senior official has been formally charged with engaging in, encouraging, or facilitating the production or distribution of illicit drugs or substances or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions' (1997); on Belize, 'The recent failure to bring charges against the son of Home Affairs Minister Elito Urbino, and the acquittal of the Minister's son-in-law, raised concerns on how effectively high profile defendants can be brought to justice. In fact, Belize has no history of ever sending a prominent citizen to jail since independence' (1997). The reports are published by the US Department of State.
31. See Carlene J. Edie, 'Jamaica: Clientelism, Dependency, and Democratic Stability', in Edie (ed.), Democracy in the Caribbean, pp.25-41.
32. Mark Figueroa, 'Garrison Communities in Jamaica 1962-1993: Their Growth and Impact on Political Culture' (Mona, Jamaica: University of the West Indies, 1996), mimeo.
33. A good investigative account of the link between politics, gang violence and drugs in Jamaica and overseas is Geoff Small, Ruthless: The Global Rise of the Yardies (London: Warner Books, 1995).
34. See Gladstone E. Mills, Westminster Style Democracy: The Jamaican Experience (Kingston, Jamaica: The Grace, Kennedy Foundation, 1997), especially pp.21-38.
35. Brian Meeks, Radical Caribbean: From Black Power to Abu Bakr (Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, 1996) p.127.
36. Ibid., p.134 and p.128.
37. Ibid., p.134.
38. Ibid.
39. In a presentation to a workshop on 'Governance in the Caribbean', University of Hull, May 1998. At the same workshop, Brian Meeks also confirmed the continuing process of hegemonic dissolution in Jamaica.
40. Ivelaw Griffith and Trevor Monroe, 'Drugs and Democratic Governance in the Caribbean', in Griffith and Sedoc-Dahlberg (eds.), Democracy and Human Rights in the Caribbean, pp.74-94, at p.84.
41. See Havelock Brewster, 'Social Capital and Development: Reflections on Barbados and Jamaica', cited in Ryan, Democratic Governance and the Social Condition in the Anglophone Caribbean, p. 59.
42. See Robert Coram, Caribbean Time Bomb (New York: Morrow, 1993).
43. See Caribbean Insight, July 1998.
44. Meeks, Radical Caribbean, p. 95.
45. See, in particular, Donald C. Peters, The Democratic System in the Eastern Caribbean (New York; Greenwood Press, 1992).
46. This view is based on conversations the writer had in 1998 with politicians and academics in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Kitts-Nevis.
47. See Meeks, Radical Caribbean, pp.137-8; Ryan, 'Democratic Governance and the Social Condition in the Anglophone Caribbean', pp.59-61; Mills, Westminster Style Democracy, pp.39-54; and Trevor Munroe, 'Democracy and Democratization: Global and Caribbean Perspectives on Reform and Research', Social and Economic Studies, Vol.46, No.1 (1997), pp.31-55.
48. See Meeks, Radical Caribbean, pp.137-8; Ryan, 'Democratic Governance and the Social Condition in the Anglophone Caribbean', pp.59-61; Mills, Westminster Style Democracy, pp.39-54; and Trevor Munroe, 'Democracy and Democratization: Global and Caribbean Perspectives on Reform and Research', Social and Economic Studies, Vol.46, No.1 (1997), pp.31-55.
49. See Meeks, Radical Caribbean, pp.137-8; Ryan, 'Democratic Governance and the Social Condition in the Anglophone Caribbean', pp.59-61; Mills, Westminster Style Democracy, pp.39-54; and Trevor Munroe, 'Democracy and Democratization: Global and Caribbean Perspectives on Reform and Research', Social and Economic Studies, Vol.46, No.1 (1997), pp.31-55.
50. See Meeks, Radical Caribbean, pp.137-8; Ryan, 'Democratic Governance and the Social Condition in the Anglophone Caribbean', pp.59-61; Mills, Westminster Style Democracy, pp.39-54; and Trevor Munroe, 'Democracy and Democratization: Global and Caribbean Perspectives on Reform and Research', Social and Economic Studies, Vol.46, No.1 (1997), pp.31-55.
51. All Commonwealth Caribbean countries except Barbados, Belize and Trinidad and Tobago specify the holding of referenda to amend deeply entrenched provisions of the constitution.
52. See Anthony Payne and Paul Sutton, 'The Commonwealth Caribbean in the New World Order: Between Europe and North America?', Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Vol.34, No.4 (1992-93), pp.39-75.
53. See David J. Padilla and Elizabeth A. Houppert, 'The OAS and Human Rights in the Caribbean', in Griffith and Sedoc-Dahlberg (eds.), Democracy and Human Rights in the Caribbean, pp.31-50.
54. A recent introduction to CARICOM is Peter Wickham, 'Factors in the Integration and Disintegration of the Caribbean', in LaGuerre (ed.), Issues in the Government and Politics of the West Indies, pp.39-74.
55. The collapse of the revolution in Grenada in 1983 provided just such an instance with sanctions being proposed and an invasion being mounted. However, this divided the region. What is now being suggested is that division over similar decisive action would be less pronounced. For details on Grenada see Anthony Payne, Paul Sutton and Tony Thorndike, Grenada: Revolution and Invasion (London and Sydney: Croom Helm, 1984), especially Ch.5.