Elections and Governance

Elections and Governance - Jamaica on the Global Frontier is presented in

two books: The Colonial Years, 1663 to 1962 (available in 2023) and The

Independence Years, 1962 to 2016, available in hardback, paperback and on

amazon.com. Together they sketch elections and governance in Jamaica as a

colony within the British Empire and as a nation-state from 1663 to 2016.

The Colonial Years documents repeated failure of oligarchic governance, the

triumph of the excluded marginal majority in achieving universal adult

suffrage, the fear of despotism by all, and the creation of a two-party

parliamentary democracy.

The Independence Years, 1962 to 2016 chronicles how the nation-state has struggled with its colonial history. It highlights the dilemma of winner-take-all

governance; the inherent flaws of democracy in its umbilical connection with

elections, in that elected representatives can constitutionally and legally

appropriate the sovereign power of the people; and outlines Jamaica's unique

attempt to resolve the paradox sustained so far by the

electorate and elected representatives.