Jamaica’s parliamentary system is based on the British Westminster model and shares many of its fundamental characteristics. The electorate votes for representatives to the 60-member House of Representatives. An upper house (the Senate) also exists, which performs a role somewhat similar to that traditionally performed by the British House of Lords. The legislator that commands majority support in the lower house—invariably the leader of the majority party—is invited by the Governor-General to be prime minister and, in turn, appoints the cabinet ministers. The government is responsible to the House of Representatives, which can end the government’s term of office if a majority supports a motion of no confidence. Elections must be called within a five-year period from the previous election, but the timing is at the discretion of the prime minister, with the approval of the Governor-General, who, like the Queen in Britain, acts as a mostly ceremonial head of state.

The first-past-the-post electoral system, and the resulting recurrence of single-party majorities in the House of Representatives, favor the concentration of decision making authority in the executive, as in the British system. Aside from appointing the cabinet ministers, the prime minister, in effect, “appoints” the majority of senators (formally this is done by the Governor-General), as well as officials to fill the top positions in the bureaucracy and other special agencies of government. The system’s parliamentary structure, broad prime ministerial appointment powers, and the important role of parties in helping members of parliament secure reelection have encouraged strong party discipline and a limited role for the legislature in policymaking.

The dynamics of inter-party competition, especially since 1990, have favored political stability. Since 1962 power has alternated between two parties—the People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)—but each instance of change has been followed by at least two successive terms of office (four successive terms, for the current governing party). As a consequence, cabinet ministers and other officials tend to stay in their positions much longer than their counterparts in Latin American countries. By the 1990s, the moderation of the traditionally more Leftist PNP had led to an increasing convergence in the policy orientations of the two parties.

One would expect that these characteristics of the Jamaican policymaking process would favor the ability of the government to adopt needed policy changes (policy adaptability) and, at the same time, the stability of broad development policies and consistent policy implementation. In addition, the existence of a merit-based and relatively professional bureaucracy, as well as a fairly independent judiciary, would be expected to favor the enforcement of long-term policy agreements and contribute to the stability and long-term quality of public policies.

In some instances, governmental decisiveness has been clearly evident, such as the response to the banking crisis in 1997 and decisions regarding entry into the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). But the government has been less adept in crafting timely and adequate policy reforms in relation to some other problems, such as the large fiscal deficit and public debt and the escalating crime rate. For example, in relation to the fiscal deficit, governments have been able to increase tax rates and improve revenue collection but have been less successful in abolishing tax exemptions and reducing business tax evasion. Reforms to reduce public sector salaries have only recently been implemented. The reasons for the slowness to adapt in such areas are complex, but stem in part from the inability of the government to impose losses on some powerful organized groups whose support—or at least, acquiescence—is required to implement reforms. Underlying this inability to adopt public-regarding reforms are some limitations on the intensity and fairness of electoral competition and representation, related to gerrymandering and the clientelistic practices of the political parties.