The Political Culture of Democracy in Jamaica

[Pages:51]The Political Culture of Democracy in Jamaica and in the Americas, 2012:

Towards Equality of Opportunity

By: Professor Anthony A. Harriott, PhD Centre for Leadership and Governance, Department of Government,

UWI, Mona Balford A. Lewis Centre for Leadership and Governance, Department of Government,

UWI, Mona with

Kenisha V. Nelson Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies

University of Technology, Jamaica

Mitchell A. Seligson, PhD Scientific Coordinator and Editor of the Series

Vanderbilt University

This study was performed with support from the Program in Democracy and Governance of the United States Agency for International Development. The opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the point of view of the United States Agency for International Development.

March, 2013

The Political Culture of Democracy in Jamaica and in the Americas, 2012:

Towards Equality of Opportunity

INVESTIGATIVE TEAM

Investigation -Anthony A. Harriott, PhD., Centre for Leadership

and Governance, Department of Government, UWI, Mona

-Balford A. Lewis, University of Technology,

Jamaica and Centre for Leadership and Governance, Department of Government, UWI, Mona

-Kenisha V. Nelson, Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies, University of Technology, Jamaica

Sample Design and Fieldwork Coordination

-Roy Russell, Department of Sociology, Psychology

and Social Work, UWI, Mona

Research and Editorial Support -Paul Martin, PhD. and Nattalee FullertonHutchinson

General Coordination

-Mar?a Fernanda Boidi, Ph.D., Program

Coordinator - Field Operations, LAPOP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. USA

Centre for Leadership & Governance, University of the West Indies, Mona

Table of Contents, Tables and Figures

Table of Contents

Tables ....................................................................................................................................................ix Figures ....................................................................................................................................................ix Preface ................................................................................................................................................. xiii Prologue: Background to the Study....................................................................................................xv Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................xxv Executive Summary...........................................................................................................................xxix Understanding Figures in this Study ........................................................................................... xxxvii Part I: Equality of Opportunity and Democracy in the Americas............................................xxxix Chapter One: Equality of Economic and Social Opportunities in the Americas .............................3

I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................3 II. Background: Equality of Economic and Social Opportunities in the Americas.............5 III. Equalities in Economic and Social Opportunities in Jamaica: A View from the

AmericasBarometer .....................................................................................................13 Public Opinion on Racial and Gender Inequality .................................................24

IV. Public Opinion towards Common Policy Proposals ...................................................28 Conditional Cash Transfer and Public Assistance Programmes ..........................30

V. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................34 Special Report Box 1: Educational Achievement and Skin Colour ..................................36 Special Report Box 2: Economic Crisis, Skin Colour, and Household Wealth ................37 Special Report Box 3: Support for Inter-ethnic Marriage .................................................38 Chapter Two: Equality of Political Participation in the Americas..................................................39 I. Introduction ....................................................................................................................39 II. Participation in the Americas in 2012...........................................................................42

Turnout ..................................................................................................................42 Beyond Turnout .....................................................................................................44 III. Public Opinion on Opportunities and Discriminatory Attitudes .................................52 Public Opinion towards Women's Leadership ......................................................53 Public Opinion towards the Leadership of Marginalized Racial/Ethnic Groups ...................................................................................................................54 Public Opinion towards the Participation of the Disabled ...................................56 IV. Public Opinion towards Common Policy Proposals ...................................................57 Gender Quotas.......................................................................................................57

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Political Culture of Democracy in Jamaica, 2012

Compulsory Voting ................................................................................................59 Reduction in Economic and Social Inequality.......................................................59 V. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................59 Special Report Box 4: Political Participation and Gender.................................................61 Special Report Box 5: Gender Quotas and Women's Political Participation....................62 Special Report Box 6: Compulsory Voting and Inequalities in Political Participation .................................................................................................................63 Chapter Three: The Effect of Unequal Opportunities and Discrimination on Political Legitimacy and Engagement ..................................................................................................65 I. Introduction ....................................................................................................................65 II. Inequality, Efficacy, and Perceptions of Representation ..............................................68 IV. Protest Participation.....................................................................................................76 V. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................79 Special Report Box 7: Political Knowledge and the Urban-Rural Divide ........................80 Special Report Box 8: Discrimination and System Support..............................................81 Special Report Box 9: Support for Democracy and Electoral Information.......................82 Part II: Governance, Political Engagement and Civil Society in the Americas............................83 Chapter Four: Corruption, Crime, and Democracy .........................................................................85 I. Introduction ....................................................................................................................85 II. Corruption .....................................................................................................................87 Perception of Corruption.......................................................................................89 Corruption Victimization .......................................................................................90 Who is Likely to be a Victim of Corruption? .........................................................94 III. Perceptions of Insecurity and Crime Victimization.....................................................95 IV. Crime Victimization ....................................................................................................98 Who is Likely to be a Victim of Crime? ...............................................................104 V. The Impact of Crime, Insecurity and Corruption on Support for the Political System ........................................................................................................................ 105 VI. Support for the Rule of Law and the Impact of Crime and Insecurity ......................108 VII. Conclusion................................................................................................................111 Chapter Five: Political Legitimacy and Tolerance..........................................................................113 I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................113 II. Support for the Political System .................................................................................116 III. Political Tolerance .....................................................................................................119 IV. Democratic Stability..................................................................................................125

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Table of Contents, Tables and Figures

V. Legitimacy of Other Democratic Institutions .............................................................128 VI. Support for Democracy .............................................................................................130 VII. Conclusion................................................................................................................132 Chapter Six: Local Government .......................................................................................................133 I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................133 II. Local Level Participation ............................................................................................136

Local Meeting Attendance ...................................................................................136 Demand-Making on Local Government ..............................................................138 III. Satisfaction with and Trust in Local Government .....................................................144 Satisfaction with Local Services ..........................................................................144 Trust in Local Government..................................................................................150 IV. Impact of Satisfaction with Local Services on System Support................................151 V. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................152 Part III: Beyond Equality of Opportunity ......................................................................................153 Chapter Seven: Surveying the Jamaican Gang Problem................................................................155 I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................155 II. Gang-Indicted Threats and Insecurity.........................................................................157 III. Experience and Threat Perceptions ...........................................................................162 IV. The Challenge of Citizen Permissiveness .................................................................163 V. Community and Politics..............................................................................................166 VI. Citizens Tolerance of Gangs .....................................................................................168 VII. Attitudes to Existing State and Police Responses to Gangs.....................................170 VIII. Gang Reduction and Control ..................................................................................173 IX. Implications of Findings for Policy...........................................................................174 X. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................174 Chapter Eight: Trust as a Factor in Police-Citizen Relations in Jamaica ....................................177 I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................177 II. Trust in the Police and Military in Comparative Perspective .....................................182 III. Trust in the Justice System ........................................................................................183 IV. Trust in the Police, the Courts and the Justice System in General in Comparative Perspective ...........................................................................................184 V. Trust in the Courts and the Justice System in the Americas.......................................184 VI. Determinants of Trust in the Police...........................................................................186 VII. Police Performance ..................................................................................................189 VIII. Conclusion ..............................................................................................................192

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