Analyzing the Political System of Jamaica: Challenges and Solutions

This essay provides an overview of the political system of Jamaica, focusing on its development since independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. It explores the country's constitutional monarchy and representative democracy, while also highlighting significant challenges such as drug-related conflicts and their impact on the youth. The essay argues for the importance of establishing a stable democratic structure and proposes the transition from monarchy to a republic, with the indirect election of the Head of State. Additionally, it suggests empowering local governments to address issues like drug dealing and turf wars, ultimately aiming to foster greater citizen engagement and responsibility. The essay concludes by emphasizing the ongoing evolution of political frameworks and the need for continuous improvement in the pursuit of true democracy where all citizens actively participate in the governance of their country.

Running head: THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF JAMAICA
The political system of Jamaica
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The political development that a particular nation state in the world has under gone is
important to understand as it helps the readers to analyze the behavior of the concerned country
with the other countries of the world. The highest development of any polity is said to be reached
when it can guarantee the freedom of the people and adopts a democratic structure for the
political system (Stephens & Stephens, 2017). This essay seeks to understand the political
development of the Jamaican system and the various barriers it faces in the establishment of a
democratic structure. In this context, an alternative type of democracy has been suggested for the
concerned country.
Jamaica is a country located in the southern part of North America. However, in spite of
being closely associated with one of the greatest democratic country in the world, Jamaica has
faced a lot of problems when it comes to the establishment of a stable government. The country
became independent from the colonial control of the United Kingdom in the year of 1962
(Edmonds, 2016). It was during this time that its first Constitution was formulated and this
adhered to the system of English laws. The country follows a constitutional monarchic form of
structure with a representative democracy. Following its establishment, the country saw a serous
of serious political conflicts in the sense that the wars committed by the drug dealers increased to
a significant level. Furthermore, the youth of the country were adversely affected by such drug
problems which made them dangerous citizens for the other people of the country (Clarke,
2016). This has posed a serious challenge to the development of a democratic structure in the
country.
In order to develop the spirit of democracy among the people of Jamaica, there is a need
on the part of the political leaders to make the people more responsible (Magstadt, 2016). In this
aspect, it is necessary that monarchy should be replaced by a republic where the Head of the

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State would be elected indirectly by the people. Furthermore, the creation of constituent units at
the different local levels of the country would enable the state leaders to keep a vigilant
surveillance on the people of Jamaica. This would ensure the reduction in the problems of drug
dealing and turf wars that pose a serious threat to the stability of the government. Thus, in order
to establish a democratic frame work of the political structure, it is suggested that republic rule
should be implemented followed by authority to the local government.
In conclusion, it is observed that since the inception of the nation states, no country has
been able to perfect its political structure in the first try itself. The political frame work of the
countries had to undergo many different levels of trials and errors before some of them emerged
to be near about perfect in the world forum. However, this does not mean that no further
developments in them is possible. True democracy occurs when all the people of a state is
engaged in the working of the country.

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References:
Clarke, C. (2016). Race, Class, and the Politics of Decolonization: Jamaica Journals, 1961 and
1968. Springer.
Edmonds, K. (2016). Guns, gangs and garrison communities in the politics of Jamaica. Race &
Class, 57(4), 54-74.
Magstadt, T. M. (2016). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues. Cengage
Learning.
Stephens, E. H., & Stephens, J. D. (2017). Democratic socialism in Jamaica: The political
movement and social transformation in dependent capitalism (Vol. 4881). Princeton
University Press.