Participatory Democracy

InParticipatory Democracy: TheCase of Parish Development Committees in Jamaica, Marc AnthonyThomas expands the existing knowledge on participatory democracy. Parish developmentcommittees were established as a means for Jamaicans to inform governmentpolicy, and Thomas explores the extent to which supportive institutional, infrastructuraland superstructural conditions allow for robust implementation of thisdemocratization initiative. His analysis is bolstered by an appreciation of theemancipatory politics employed by the country’s general population sinceslavery not only to survive oppression, but also to influence the nation’spolitical agenda. Riots during slavery and in the present day, for example,have offered citizens an avenue towards self-determination.

The democratization initiative symbolized by parishdevelopment committees promotes inclusiveness yet is led predominantly byolder, educated middle-class individuals with talents and capacities garneredfrom several years of experience in various fields. Thomas argues that theopportunity cost of a more inclusive order explains this fact, in thatJamaica’s finite resources mean there is limited space for a learning curve andthe cash-strapped committees have only been able to survive when their memberscould help to defray the cost of their operations.



By observing more than one hundred hours ofparish development committee activities and interviewing sixty key informantsand four focus groups, Thomas finds that the emergence, survival and thrivingof parish development committees in Jamaica is determined largely by the extentto which emancipatory political tactics are successfully applied by committee stakeholdersto combat a number of continuing challenges. His analysis provides amicro-scale view of the interaction of factors that have shaped the power andpossibility of Jamaica’s democratization initiative.