| Chapter 1: | Jamaican Governance and Citizen Politics in Context |
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(United Nations Development Programme, 1997, pp. 2–3) vis-à-vis the state. On the basis of this fluid interaction between citizens and the state in the process of governance, the UNDP’s stated prerequisites of good governance are worthy of note. These include participation, transparency, accountability, effectiveness, equity, and the rule of law. Of course, no society can ever fully satisfy the requirements of this highly conditional and idealized model of governance. But, in applying this model of governance to Jamaica, it is undeniable that the Jamaican state retains a fairly consolidated democracy in which there are reasonable levels of political rights and civil liberties (Meeks, 2000; Munroe, 1999), even though more recent observations suggest that it has increasingly lost its vigor (see Gray, 2004). Notwithstanding the enviable levels of freedom it offers, Jamaica appears to fall short on the comprehensive measures used to calibrate the health, strength, and stability of democratic governments. In fact, persistent economic stagnation has created conditions of social decay and instability which have led to a display of symptoms that democratic theorists consider disquieting. These include widespread acts of indiscipline, escalating levels of crime and violence, and frequent civil disorder (Gray, 2004; Harriott, 2000, 2003; Meeks, 2000; Munroe, 1999).
The current conduct of many Jamaican residents has led some commentators to acknowledge the emergence of a new type of Jamaican citizen who is not-so-quietly pushing governability to its limit (“Gangs Set Barricades,” 2010; “Willing to Die,” 2010; cf. Munroe, 2002a; Meeks, 2000; P. J. Patterson, 1999; C. Stone, 1992a). Shaped by the historical forces of decolonization (D. Scott, 1999) and later molded by the technological, sociocultural, political, and economic forces of liberalization and the challenges of globalization, this so-called new Jamaican is more assertive, demanding, and resentful of authority across a range of social and political institutions (see Inglehart, 1999; Norris, 1999). However, although Jamaicans today are demanding more from their government, they are finding the existing structures of (representative) governance unresponsive and in some instances irrelevant. Former Jamaican prime minister P. J. Patterson put it candidly when he remarked,