Proud of Jamaica, ashamed of the Gov't

Lawrence Alfred Powell, Contributor

With laser-sharp clarity, the Manatt affair has focused the nation's attention on the issue of whether Jamaicans feel alienated from their own government, the parties and the political system. The current appeals have been specific - for this particular prime minister, and perhaps also his associates in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), to renounce power for the good of the country, because they are no longer trusted.

But a look at the University of the West Indies' leadership and governance polls over the past several years (2006, 2007, 2008) suggests a broader picture - that these current appeals occur against a backdrop of chronic alienation from government, whether it be JLP or the People's National Party (PNP), and widespread distrust and cynicism about the quality of governance that is coming from Gordon House. These surveys show that whereas Jamaicans believe strongly in democratic values, they do not think recent governments have been living up to the promise of those values.

A pervasive distrust in government

To what extent have Jamaicans been predisposed to trust their government in recent years? When we asked respondents this question in our first survey back in 2006, about 85 per cent indicated that "you can never be too careful in dealing with people in government", with just seven per cent agreeing that "most people in government can be trusted to keep their promises".

Our 2008 national survey, taken during the early Golding adminis-tration, asked more detailed questions about trust and pride in government, which are summarised in the table on this page.

The contrast between the percentage of Jamaicans who are "proud of being Jamaican" (85 per cent) and those who are "proud of living under the Jamaican political system" (19 per cent) is dramatic - suggesting a sense of disillusionment, perhaps even shame. Throughout this table, one sees that pride and trust in the government, the parties, elections, etc, are obviously at very low levels, as are Jamaicans' perceptions that the government is credibly upholding their basic rights and democratic principles. True, trust in the prime minister appears somewhat higher than for other aspects of government in this 2008 survey but, of course, there is no assurance that this is still at a healthy level in 2010, given the present atmosphere of scandal.

Political alienation and powerlessness

Another possible angle on the government's legitimacy in the eyes of the populace is to pose the question: are Jamaicans feeling powerless to have any meaningful impact on the state of affairs in their own country? To what extent do they feel discouraged, disempowered, disenfranchised and helpless to make any difference?

In our 2007 national survey, even in the midst of an election year that promised a hopeful change of course, the prevailing mood seemed to be one of voter discouragement. Only 38 per cent felt that "which political party you vote for can make a difference in what happens", whereas 54 per cent were resigned to the fate that "no matter which party you vote for, it won't make any difference".

On a similar question of empowerment, 43 per cent thought that "with enough effort we can wipe out political corruption", yet a larger 51 per cent believed that "it is difficult for people to have much control over the things politicians do in office".

Another question posed a hypothetical scenario where the respondent had a complaint about a national government problem, and took that complaint to a member of the government for consideration. A high 57 per cent said they felt the problem would get either "no attention" or "very little" attention. Only six per cent thought it would get "a lot".

Similarly, when asked how satisfied they were with how the MP from their constituency "listens to the problems of the people here," only 11 per cent indicated they were "satisfied" that their problems were being heard. And in the 2008 national survey a year later, only six per cent of the respondents strongly agreed that "those who govern this country are really interested in what people like you think."

For many, this sense of power-lessness seems to be linked to perceptions of an indifferent, entrenched elite within the Jamaican system. On another 2007 question, the 42 per cent who said "the average citizen can have an influence on government decisions" were outnumbered by the 53 per cent who felt that "this country is run by the few people in power, and there's not much that people like me can do about it".

Other questions paint a similar picture: 71 per cent of Jamaicans agree that "this country is governed for the benefit of a few powerful interests," whereas only 25 per cent are willing to say the country is "governed for everyone." And 70 per cent say "administration of justice in Jamaica mainly favours the rich", with only 24 per cent saying it "benefits most citizens equally".

Values-performance gap

These evaluations of the government's weak democratic performance stand in contrast to the strong pro-democratic values and expectations that most Jamaicans hold as their 'habits of the heart.' As was detailed in a recent Gleaner article (April 28, 'Democratic values'), over three-quarters of Jamaicans feel that democracy is the best form of government, and there is a robust popular commitment to basic norms of democracy and the related ideals of equality, freedom, tolerance and social justice.

values vs perceptions

These perceptions of how the government is being run also stand in contrast to the dominant social values of the culture as a whole. Our national inventory of Jamaicans' values (April 21, "What are the values of Jamaicans?") indicates that Jamaicans place very high value on such things as 'honesty' (ranked third, out of 35 social values), 'responsibility' (12th), 'equality' (10th), and 'family security' (second). Among the least respected, lowest ranked, values are 'wealth' (material possessions, money - ranked 29th), 'daring, risk' (34th), 'authority' (33rd), and 'social power' (control over others, dominance - ranked 35th). Someone needs to tell this to the present government.

So Jamaicans deeply respect and cherish democracy, but they do not have very high regard for the quality of democratic governance they have been getting of late.

Lawrence Alfred Powell serves as Polling Director for the Centre for Leadership and Governance, UWI, Mona. email: lawrence.powell@uwimona.edu.jm. National surveys on which this article is based were made possible through support from the United Nations Development Programme, the United States Agency for International Development, and the Latin American Public Opinion AmericasBarometer (www.LapopSurveys.org).

Trust and pride in Jamaican governance

(% Saying 'A Lot')

To what extent are/do you . . . % Saying "A Lot"Proud of being Jamaican84.8Proud of living under the Jamaican political system19.0Trust the national government20.5Trust the political parties12.1Trust the elections19.4Trust the justice system20.1Trust the Parliament17.4Trust the Prime Minister30.5Think the government promotes democratic principles19.6Think basic rights well protected by the political system12.8

Source: 2008 national Leadership & Governance survey (n=1499). Figures represent the per cent who answered six or seven, on a one to seven scale ranging from 'not at all' to 'a lot'.

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