Jamaica is known for its music, particularly reggae. Legendary reggae musician Bob Marley was Jamaican. It has also come to the spotlight in recent years due to the prowess of its athletes on the world stage. Usain St Leo Bolt, OJ, CD is a retired Jamaican sprinter widely regarded as the greatest of all time. On the political front, however, not much known about Jamaican democracy. Jamaica has a democratic dispensation that is ailing and in urgent need of fixing. An article published in The Gleaner examines this situation. Here is an excerpt:

Democracy in Jamaica is one in which the people elect representatives who legislate on their behalf. While the freedom exists for us to have more than two parties (and we do have more than two) – there are two main ones. Well, that is the problem, we’re not sure that there are two. Sure, there’s the ruling party and an imploding Opposition (whichever you pick).

The quality and strength of a democracy depends on having at least two strong parties, which gives the electorate a real choice. When there is only one strong party, it serves itself. Where there are two strong parties, that means the people must be courted for one of those parties to win an election. Here, there’s a greater likelihood that the people will be served. To increase the number of eligible contenders is to increase the likelihood of the people being served.

Unless you are going to be disingenuously benefitting from a ruling party, the truth is, even the supporters of a single strong party in a democracy will experience diminishing returns from that party in power. So then it really helps me to have a strong Opposition even though the party that I may favour is in power.

Read the full article here.