http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20071111/focus/focus5.html
Published: Sunday | November 11, 2007

In 13 contested general elections since 1944, the Jamaican electorate has retained the sitting government seven times - 1949, 1959, 1967, 1976, 1993, 1997, 2002 - and voted them out six times - 1955, 1962, 1972, 1980, 1989, 2007. In 1949, though the JLP administration won the most seats, the PNP opposition actually won the popular vote. So in effect, incumbents and challengers are tied six and a half all.

It's a remarkable record, perhaps unmatched outside the developed West, and certainly unsurpassed anywhere. If Karl Popper is right that democracy is "the type of government which can be removed without violence", then this is as democratic a country as the world has known.

westminster system

(Yes, we need to get rid of things like garrison constituencies. But would it not be insanity to tamper fundamentally with the constitutional monarchy Westminster system that has rotated governments so effectively for 63 unbroken years? If it ain't broke, don't fix it too much.)

If ever a people have determined their own destiny, it is Jamaicans. We have known no predatory dictatorships, endured no debilitating wars suffered no ethnic or linguistic or religious hatreds, experienced no shattering natural disasters. Whatever the situation that prevails here, we have no one to blame or praise but ourselves. Our politicians have been of the people, been voted for by the people, and have governed for the people - or been booted out.

Democracy is based on the 'wisdom of crowds' premise that the freely expressed collective will of the people produces the best government. So with a continuous history of fairly elected leaders, theoretically we should be one of the planet's most prosperous countries.

Now, no matter how the cranks rant on, Jamaica is no failed state. But neither can it be counted a success by most global measures. We rank in the bottom half by per capita income, have one of the world's highest murder rates, have shoddy health and educational systems, a pot-hole riddled road network and a pathetic public transport system. In too many ways for too many people, life is a grinding and dangerous struggle.

Here is a paradox. For actions speak louder than words. What you

do is generally a better reflection of your true feelings than what you say. And for all their grumbling, it often seems that people here choose to live in misery. Look at St. Andrew South West. By common consent it is the worst run constituency, yet its sitting MP consistently wins by the biggest margin in the country.

Well maybe Jamaicans are simply collectively insane. Maybe we are ingrained masochists who love to suffer. Or maybe the list of ills above is compensated for by other non-statistically measured boons.

One friend put it thus, "Yes, there are wealthier and better run places. But show me a country that has a better sex life! Sure Singapore is ten times richer and growing 10 times as fast. But they have to teach people there to enjoy sex! And that is what people like Mutty Perkins want Jamaica to turn into?" (And he's not making up the Singapore part. http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2004/s1264927.htm)

Well, who's to say he's wrong? Statistics on the matter are notoriously unreliable, but it's hard to imagine a more sexual country than Jamaica. Surely, none celebrate sex so openly and with such gusto. Where else in the world are songs like 'Backshot' and 'Stab Up the Meat' and 'Buddy Buddy Buddy' blasted full volume on public buses? Does anywhere else have an equivalent of 'Love Punnany Bad', the virtual national anthem of dancehall that never fails to send dance crowds wild? (And which is invariably followed by 'Boom Bye Bye'.) If music is the most profound expression of a nation's psyche, Jamaica must be number one on the world sexual frequency index. At any rate, that's what most Jamaicans I've asked seem to believe.

Imagine the following political speech. "I am going to transform Jamaica into a West Indian Singapore! The average person will earn United States $30,000 a year! We will have a world class education system! Everyone will drive a criss car! There will be no potholes! But you will probably have less sex." Well, how many votes would it get? Plenty? Or none? One man answered this way - "If we have to ride bicycle, we not giving up an inch!"

I mentioned another Singaporean statistic to my friend - 67 per cent of men there say they have never been unfaithful. He laughed and said that was the end of my 'Make Jamaica Singapore' party. "You would have to be crazy to expect us to give up the national sport!" One young woman found the 67 per cent unbelievable and demanded proof. (See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1216356.stm)

By the way, I wonder what percentage of Jamaican men never cheat? My vox pops suggest a high of 10 per cent with the most common answer being a belly laugh 'None!'. One response went 'Does a faithful Jamaican man exist? Well, maybe if you believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy'. Not for nothing perhaps, does every single roots play focus on 'bun' and 'jacket'.

But this might be a shallow analysis.

Pito, 68, who sells tissue paper for a living, sits on a pavement in Singapore November 23, 2006. Singapore is Asia's second-richest country after Japan, with a gross domestic product per capita of about $27,000, ranking between EU member Italy and Spain. But in terms of income disparity, Singapore is i different company. - file

Maybe Jamaica shows that democracy is a slow but steady progress. Perhaps it takes time for people to learn how to choose good leaders, and for leaders to learn how to govern properly. After all, we have only been doing this independently for 45 years. And look how long it took Britain to stumble on to the basic concept of modern democracy - which really only dates to the 1688 Glorious Revolution - and then for the rule of law, an independent media, and universal suffrage elections to become established norms. As for Singapore, it took exceptional circumstances and an exceptional leader to produce the Lee Kwan Yew-led 'Third World to First' miracle. And if we are not Singapore, neither are we Cuba or Haiti.

It's still early days, but I keep hearing very good things about the Golding administration from people whose opinions I respect. A completely non-partisan friend, who had extensive dealings with the previous regime, says that while the Patterson government always talked a good show, it was usually vague on implementation and poor on follow through. He gets a real can do feeling from this new JLP team, and thinks they can deliver on the promised governance transformation, if they get public support.

I hope he's correct that Bruce Golding is the right man at the right time. By all accounts he is as industrious a Prime Minister as we have had, and a workaholic focused on tying loose ends together is probably exactly what the country needs now. Maybe he and his businessman Cabinet will really show Jamaicans how much easier good governance can make daily life, by delivering decent schools and hospitals, decent roads, and decent public transport. A general buy-in might start us on the road to Singaporean level prosperity - as long, of course, as our world leading quality sex life does not suffer.