Jamaica
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Island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba and west of Haiti.
Government
Jamaica is a multiparty democracy, with a presidential executive. Its 1962 constitution follows closely the unwritten British model, with a resident constitutional head of state, the governor general, who represents the British monarch and appoints a prime minister and cabinet, able to command a majority in, and collectively responsible to, the legislature. The legislature comprises two chambers, an appointed 21-member upper house, the senate, and a 60-member popularly elected lower house, the house of representatives. Normally, 13 of the senators are appointed on the advice of the prime minister and 8 on the advice of the leader of the opposition. Members of the house are elected under the first-past-the-post system from singel-member constituencies for a five-year term, but the house is subject to dissolution within that period.History
Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494, the island was inhabited by Arawak Indians. From 1509 to 1655 it was a Spanish colony, and after this was in British hands until 1959, when it was granted internal self-government, achieving full independence within the Commonwealth in 1962.Two-party politics after independence: 1962–80
The two leading political figures in the early days of independence were Alexander Bustamante, leader of the centre-right Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which he founded in 1943, and Norman Manley, leader of the left-of-centre People's National Party (PNP), which he founded in 1938. The JLP held power 1962–72, winning general elections in 1962 and 1967 under the leadership first of Bustamente, who ruled until 1964 (when he was replaced by Donald Sangster) and then of Hugh Shearer, from 1967. It was a time of strong economic growth, of around 6% per annum, with investments in tourism and the alumina and other industries, but wealth was unequally shared.In the early 1970s, the economy slowed down and there was demand from the urban poor for a greater share of the country's wealth. This enabled the socialist PNP, led by Norman Manley's charismatic son Michael, to win the 1972 general election, and the PNP dominated between 1972 and 1980. Michael Manley embarked on a radical programme of social reform, investment in education and health, and economic independence from the industrialized world. Despite high unemployment, Manley was returned to power in 1976 with an increased majority, but by 1980 there was high inflation and GDP had fallen 25% since 1972. Manley rejected a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because of the conditions attached and instead pursued a policy of economic self-reliance.
Political violence and JLP rule: 1980–89
The 1980 general election campaign was extremely violent, despite calls by Manley and the leader of the JLP, Edward Seaga, for moderation. The outcome was a decisive victory for the JLP, which won 51 of the 60 lower-house seats. This gave Seaga a mandate for a return to a renewal of links with the USA and an emphasis on free enterprise. He severed diplomatic links with Cuba in 1981. In 1983 Seaga called an early, snap election. The opposition claimed they had been given insufficient time to nominate their candidates and the JLP won all 60 seats. There were violent demonstrations when the new parliament was inaugurated, and the PNP said it would continue its opposition outside the parliamentary arena.PNP dominance: 1989–2007
Manley and the PNP returned to power with a landslide victory in the 1989 general election, but Manley pursued more moderate economic policies than in the 1970s, with some success, and worked for improved relations with the USA. In 1992, with his health deteriorating, Manley resigned as premier and was replaced by Percival Patterson, the former finance minister. In a snap general election, held in 1993, Patterson increased the PNP's majority, winning 52 of the 60 lower-house seats. From 1991, the PNP government followed a programme of economic liberalization, including removing exchange controls, floating the exchange rate, reducing tariffs, removing restrictions on foreign investment, and privatizing state enterprises. This helped bring the inflation rate down from 80% in 1990 to 7% in 1998 and there was steady economic growth until the mid-1990s.In 1995, the JLP was weakened when its chairman, Bruce Golding, broke away with colleagues to form a new centrist party, the National Democratic Movement (NDM). This enabled Patterson to secure two further unprecedented consecutive victories, routing the JLP in December 1997 and narrowly winning the October 2002 general election.
But in 2002 Golding rejoined the JLP, to become its chair again in 2003. Meanwhile, Patterson stepped down as prime minister in February 2006 and the local government minister Portia Simpson-Miller was elected head of the PNP and Jamaica's first female prime minister.
In September 2007, the JLP, under the leadership of Bruce Golding, returned to power, narrowly defeating the PNP by 32 seats to 28.
Jamaica
| Commercial and residential district in central Queens, New York City. Many highways converge here, and the district is an important junction on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). Jamaica was a thriving commercial and retail centre from the early 20th century onwards. The first supermarket in the USA opened here in 1930, but after the 1960s much trade left the area when new shopping malls began to open in nearby Nassau County. |
| Jamaica's name is a corruption of that of an American Indian people who inhabited the area before Europeans arrived. The original settlement, established in the 1650s, also included modern Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, St Albans, and Queens Village. Jamaica was incorporated in 1683 as the first seat of Queens County, and became a ward of the Queens city borough in 1898. For a long time before its development as a commercial centre, it served as the market hub for vegetables and other produce grown in the market gardens of Long Island. A new campus (1986) of York College (City University of New York) and the regional headquarters of the Social Security Administration (1989) are among recent developments in the district. South Jamaica, south of the LIRR tracks, is a generally poorer subdivision. |
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