Looks at democracy in Jamaica and the level of participation among older politicians and younger entrants, issues of ageism and sexism. How are young persons engaged; what is value of citizenship engagment and democracy building? how can democracy remain viable if there is limited turn-over?

1. JAMAICA'S DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT:
THOUGHTS ON CITIZENSHIP AND
YOUTH PARTICIPATION
Panel: “Challenges and Strategies for Democratic
Participation among Jamaican Youth”, YUTE X
Conference 2012
Ms Taitu Heron, Institute of Gender & Development
Studies, UWI Mona
December 19, 2012

2. 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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3. 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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4. 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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5. 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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6. 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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7. POLITICIANS WITH MORE THAN 10
YEARS INVOLVEMENT (AGE, GENDER & LENGTH
OF TIME INTHE 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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8.  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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POLITICIANSWITH MORE THAN 10
YEARS INVOLVEMENT CONT’D
(AGE, GENDER & LENGTH OF TIME INTHE SYSTEM) CONTINUED

9. POLITICIANS WITH MORE THAN 10
YEARS INVOLVEMENT CONT’D
(AGE, GENDER & LENGTH OF TIME INTHE 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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10. THE ‘YOUTH’ IN POLITICS (LESS
THAN 10YEARS 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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11. FACING THE DEMOCRATIC
DEFICIT
People 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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12. 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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13. 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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14. 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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15. 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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16. CITIZENSHIP ANDYOUTH
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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17. CITIZENSHIP ANDYOUTH
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.
* SUBJECTTO LAWS
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18. 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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19. CITIZENSHIP &YOUTH
PARTICIPATION
Being 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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20. CLAIMING CITIZENSHIP
What 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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21. 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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22. REFERENCES
• Sherrod, L. R., Flanagan, C., &Youniss, J. (2002). Dimensions of Citizenship and
Opportunities forYouth Development:The What,Why,When,Where, andWho
of Citizenship Development. Applied Developmental Science, 6(4), 264-272.
• Caroline Beauvais, Lindsey McKay, Adam Seddon, A Literature Review onYouth
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. NewYork:
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.
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