JAMAICA'S DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT:

THOUGHTS ON CITIZENSHIP AND

YOUTH PARTICIPATION

Panel: “Challenges and Strategies for Democratic Participation among Jamaican Youth”, YUTE XConference 2012

Ms Taitu Heron, Institute of Gender & Development Studies, UWI Mona

December 19, 2012

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

The notion of Jamaica having a Democratic Deficit is

not new. What do we mean?

Three key points:

1. Jamaica’s culture of democracy is distorted, ageist, sexist and

dysfunctional; and does not encourage turn-over of participants in the

governance process

2. The nature of citizenship in a formal sense does not foster youth

participation

3. How can we engage as youth citizens to make room for our leadership;

plan for your participation; plan your entrance; plan what you want to see

change

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JA’S DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT

What kind of democracy do we have? And why do I say

that we have a democratic deficit:

The democratic deficit is a concept invoked to refer to the European Union

and its various bodies; that the EU suffers from a lack of democracy and is

inaccessible to the ordinary citizen because their method of operating is so

complex.

It is a political situation in which there is believed to be a lack of democratic

accountability and control over the decision-making process.

“A democratic deficit occurs when ostensibly democratic organizations or

institutions in fact fall short of fulfilling what are believed to be the principles

of democracy.”

o Sanford Levinson, How the United States Constitution Contributes to the Democratic

Deficit in America, 55 Drake L. Rev. 859, 860 (2007).

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DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT CONT’D

This too applies to the state of democratic

governance in Jamaica; except to say that the

modus operandi is not complex here but rather

hierarchical and codified. Jamaica’s democracy is

short on:

Accountability Youth participation

Transparency Turn-over (of party affiliates and members in

Government & opposition)

Gender parity Policy cohesion, direction, vision etc.

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CULTURE OF DEMOCRACY

It is the culture of our democracy that has created the

“deficit”:

a) Partisan b) Classist c) Patron-clientelist

d) Cliquish e) Sexist f) Ageist

g) Pathology h) Apathy

The partisan nature of the democracy feeds a) to f) and

has not fostered:

Diversity and innovation (by class, sex or age); diverse of ideas that comes

with this kind of mix

Growth and expansion of vision (regurgitation of same dev ideas over and

over again even after proof that it cannot work);

Transformational leadership; Capacity of dealing with the next 50 years.

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ABSENCE OF DIVERSE

PARTICIPATION BY GENDER & AGE Seats held in Jamaica’s Parliament : 93% of MPs were older

than 45 years old

Year Men Women

1989 57 3

1996 53 7

2002 52 8

2007 53 7

2011 55 8 (12.7%) 63 seats

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POLITICIANS WITH MORE THAN 10

YEARS INVOLVEMENT (AGE, GENDER & LENGTH

OF TIME IN THE SYSTEM)

Tacius Golding (b. 1900) (1949 – 1972) (23 years)

Rt Hon. Alexander Bustamante (b.1884) (1953–1967)

(14 years)

Rt Hon. Michael Manley (b.1924) 1962-1992 (30 years)

Rt Hon. Edward Seaga (b. 1920) (1974 – 2006) (32 years)

Hon. P J Patterson (b. 1935) (1969 – 2006) (37 years)

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Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller (b.1945); 1976 – to

present (36 years to date)

Hon. Dr. Omar Davies (b. 1947) (1993 to present) (19

years)

Hon. Dr. Peter Phillips (b. 1949) (1993 to present) (19

years)

Hon. Robert Pickersgill (b. 1943) (1989 to present)

(23 years)

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POLITICIANS WITH MORE THAN 10 YEARS INVOLVEMENT CONT’D(AGE, GENDER & LENGTH OF TIME IN THE SYSTEM) CONTINUED

POLITICIANS WITH MORE THAN 10

YEARS INVOLVEMENT CONT’D(AGE, GENDER & LENGTH OF TIME IN THE SYSTEM)

Hon. Pearnel Charles (b. 1936) (1972 to present) (40

years)

Ms Olivia Grange (b.1946) 1997 to present) (15 years)

Mr. Edmund Bartlett (….) (1976 to present) (36 years)

Mr Delroy Chuck (b. 1945) 1997 to present) (15 years)

Mr Roger Clarke (….) (1991 to present) (21 years)

Mr Michael Peart (….) 1993 to present) (19 years)

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THE ‘YOUTH’ IN POLITICS (LESS

THAN 10 YEARS INVOLVEMENT)

Christopher Tufton Sandrea Falconer

Andrew Holness Natalie Neita-Headley

Peter Bunting Lisa Hanna

James Robertson Mark Golding

Mikael Phillips Raymond Pryce

Damion Crawford

Julian Robinson

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FACING THE DEMOCRATIC

DEFICITPeople clog up the system, stay beyond their usefulness

Creeping turn-over does not facilitate generation of new ideas, energy, relevance and movement.

Cadre of politicians planning a development path for a Jamaica that they will not be alive to see

Limited substantive avenues of entry for those who will be alive to see it;

Need to question the value and functioning of the parliamentary democracy that we inherited.

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WHY CITIZENSHIP & YOUTH

PARTICIPATION?

Why is young people's politics so important? Because ‘generational replacement’ is the key driving force behind political change and can offer us a window through which to view the future of our democracies.

Thus, if we are to understand political participation at all, we must explore how each new generation comes to develop its own conceptions of citizenship and expresses itself through civic and political engagement.

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WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP? (HEYWOOD)

“Citizenship represents a relationship between the individual and the state, in which the two are bound together by reciprocal rights and obligations”. Based on a historical contestation of inclusion /exclusion.

Objective dimension: specific rights and obligations which a state invests in its members,

Subjective dimension: a sense of loyalty and belonging.

.

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WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP CONT’D

Objective citizenship does not in itself ensure the existence of subjective citizenship, because “members of groups that feel alienated from their state, perhaps because of social disadvantage or forms of discrimination, cannot properly be thought of as ‘full citizens’, even though they may enjoy a range of formal entitlements”

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WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP?

Citizenship is not just about the formal relationship between an individual and the state outlining civil, political, social and economic rights.

A more total relationship, inflected by

identity, social positioning, cultural assumptions, institutional practices and a sense of belonging.

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CITIZENSHIP AND YOUTH

PARTICIPATION CONT’D

Ideas on citizenship, what it means, challenging, making claims based on citizenship rights is weak in JA & the CBN

Citizenship is a status traditionally reserved for adults. While many people might accept that youth are citizens, there might be scepticism of the notion that youth, even those over 18, are full citizens. Somehow it seems that they cannot be more than “citizens in-becoming”.

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CITIZENSHIP AND YOUTH

PARTICIPATION CONT’D

In fact, examining their situation shows youth to have a precarious citizenship status.

While they may have their own passports and driving license, and they can form unions, you can have consensual sex (*), take up full-time work, be put into jail and vote, youth are also seem caught between statuses.

* SUBJECT TO LAWS

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CITIZENSHIP & YOUTH

PARTICIPATION

The extent to which people enjoy and have access to all dimensions of citizenship establishes a certain citizenship status, often one that is less than full citizenship.

This is the case for many youth, because they are not yet old enough or because their social and economic circumstances or because of self-exclusion.

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CITIZENSHIP & YOUTH

PARTICIPATIONBeing a full citizen, means having the capacity to

exercise the three dimensions of citizenship and actively seeking to engage so as to realize one’s rights, exercise one’s responsibilities, have access to political institutions, be empowered, and share a sense of belonging to the community – national as well as local.

Being a full citizen means having the resources and opportunity to participate in different areas of life.

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CLAIMING CITIZENSHIPWhat is the citizenship status of young people today and,

in particular, where are the inequalities across social, political and economic categories, as well as between younger and older people?

As they gain formal civil and political rights, are they also gaining social and economic rights?

What are the constraints that exists across class, gender, sexual orientation, (dis)ability?

How do you make claims? What will you perpetuate or transform?

How do you claim your stake?

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CLAIMING CITIZENSHIP /

CONCLUSION

Education – An Avenue to Exclusion?

Education – A Route to Independence and Equality?

Education, Economic Independence and Security

Justice and Freedom from Discrimination

Personal Security and Well-being in the Community

Identity, Belonging and Participation

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REFERENCES• Sherrod, L. R., Flanagan, C., & Youniss, J. (2002). Dimensions of Citizenship and

Opportunities for Youth Development: The What, Why, When, Where, and Who

of Citizenship Development. Applied Developmental Science, 6(4), 264-272.

• Caroline Beauvais, Lindsey McKay, Adam Seddon, A Literature Review on Youth

and Citizenship, CPRN Discussion Paper No. CPRN|02, June 2001

• James Sloam, Youth, Citizenship and Politics, Parliam Aff (2012) 65(1): 4-12 .

• Heywood, Andrew. 1994. Political Ideas and Concepts. An Introduction. New York:

St. Martin’s Press.

• Hobson, Barbara and Ruth Lister. 2001. “Citizenship”, in Contested Concepts;

Gender and Social Politics. Eds. Jane Lewis, Barbara, Hobson, and Birte Siim.

Edward Algar.

• www.jis.gov.jm

• www.japarliament.gov.jm

• www.wikipedia.com

• www.ipu.org. 22