Feeling powerless in Jamaica

The Greek term from which we derive the word 'democracy' combines demos (people) and kratos (power, rule). Because democracies like Jamaica are ultimately based on rule by the people, and not just arbitrary authority, it is important that the citizens feel they have some meaningful degree of influence over what happens to them - in their personal lives, their family, and their surrounding community.

Modern experimental psychology has repeatedly demonstrated that maintaining a healthy sense of personal control over the relevant 'reinforcers' in one's social environment is a key aspect of the way all living organisms, including humans, cope effectively in navigating their life circumstances. Where this sense of control is blocked or absent, humans, like other advanced organisms, soon 'learn' that they are 'helpless' to make a difference, and lapse into a state of perceived powerlessness in which - after recurrent futile attempts to regain control - they will eventually give up, and cease to hope.

In the clinical literatures, this latter state is sometimes called 'learned helplessness'. Not accidentally, this is one of the major theories explaining what happens to people when they become depressed.

Perceiving that one has some degree of control over one's surroundings is, therefore, both essential to mental health (without which humans become passive and depressed) and to positive engagement with the larger social and political institutions of the society (without which there is alienation). In a society that repeatedly thwarts and discourages its citizens' need to have some control over their personal and collective fate - to feel 'effective' in 'making a difference' - people will tend to 'give up' and 'stop trying'. They become fatalistic, withdrawn, uninterested in hoping anymore that working with others to construct a decent civil society together is ever going to be possible.

Three questions

To what extent do Jamaicans have a sense of personal control, a sense of their capacity to make a difference in the society in which they live? In order to tap this dimension of citizen perception, the 2010 Jamaican USAID/LAPOP survey included several questions that had proven usefully discriminative in previous studies. Each of the three questions asks the respondent to choose between an 'effective' and a 'powerless' alternative, in evaluating his or her relationship with the surrounding sociopolitical environment.

Examining responses to these three items (see figures on this page), it becomes clear that the overall atmosphere in Jamaica is currently one of perceived political impotence. Most citizens report that they are feeling relatively powerless to affect outcomes, to make a political difference. When asked if the average Jamaican citizen "can have an influence on government decisions" or whether, instead, "there's not much that people like you can do about how the country is run," 74 per cent of Jamaicans chose the latter. Similarly, when the question is posed in terms of whether it makes any difference which party one votes for in elections, 64 per cent feel that "no matter which party you vote for, it won't make any difference in what happens".

On a third personal-control item, the responses are slightly more upbeat. Whereas a slight majority, 51 per cent, say they feel that in political affairs, "most of us are the victims of forces we can neither understand nor control," the other half of the populace (49 per cent) clings to the hope that "by taking an active part in political and social affairs, the people can influence events".

Overall, however, the general trend across these three items is one of a sense of low personal control over what happens in the society around them, of civic powerlessness, of discouragement. As an experimental psychologist might put it, most Jamaicans have lost hope that they can exercise much control over the relevant reinforcers in their social environment.

Other studies

Moreover, this 2010 trend is consistent with results found in earlier 2006, 2007, and 2008 Centre for Leadership and Governance studies, which also pointed to chronically high levels of citizen political powerlessness within Jamaican society. In the 2007 national survey, even in the midst of an election year that promised a hopeful "change of course", the prevailing mood nevertheless seemed to be one of voter discouragement. Only 38 per cent felt that "which political party you vote for can make a difference in what happens". On a similar question of citizen efficacy, 43 per cent thought that "with enough effort we can wipe out political corruption", yet a larger 51 per cent believed that "it is difficult for people to have much control over the things politicians do in office".

Another 2007 question posed a hypothetical scenario where the respondent had a complaint about a national government problem, and took that complaint to a member of the government for consideration. Fifty-seven per cent said they felt the problem would get either "no attention" or "very little" attention. Only six per cent thought it would get "a lot". Similarly, when asked how satisfied they were with how the MP from their constituency "listens to the problems of the people here", only 11 per cent indicated they were "satisfied" that their problems were being heard. And in the 2008 LAPOP/USAID national survey a year later, only six per cent of the respondents strongly agreed that "those who govern this country are really interested in what people like you think".

For many Jamaicans, this sense of powerlessness appears to be linked to their perceptions of an indifferent, privileged elite within the larger social system. On another 2007 question, 71 per cent of Jamaicans agreed that "this country is governed for the benefit of a few powerful interests", whereas only 25 per cent were willing to say the country is "governed for everyone". And in the 2006 Leadership and Governance survey, 69 per cent said "administration of justice in Jamaica mainly favours the rich", with only 24 per cent saying it "benefits most citizens equally".

Correlations with civic engagement and support

Analysis of the 2010 USAID/LAPOP survey also indicates that whether or not one feels empowered is related to a variety of participatory behaviours and engagements with the social system. Persons who are feeling a strong sense of personal control over their surroundings are more likely to be interested in local and national political affairs, to identify with a political party, and to vote in elections. They are also more likely to play an active political role - attempting to convince others to vote, attending party meetings and conventions, and working directly for a party during a national election campaign. Jamaicans with a high sense of efficacy are more likely to engage with community problem-solving through organisations and meetings, and to follow social affairs in the media. Conversely, those with a weak sense of efficacy - and this is clearly the majority of Jamaican citizens at present - are less likely to be motivated to engage in positive and frequent ways with their sociopolitical environment. They are often passive and discouraged in their interactions with the civic order.

Further analysis of the 2010 survey also indicates that these feelings of personal control are associated with trust and confidence in a variety of key political institutions, and with the belief that Government is legitimate and truly benefits its citizens. Jamaicans with a strong sense of personal efficacy are more likely to hold positive views of central political institutions and processes such as the electoral system, the parties, the Parliament and prime minister, the police and defence force, and the courts. They are more likely to support the legitimacy of the overall political system, and the current Government, and to believe that these political forces are just and effective in combating poverty, unemployment, corruption, and crime. They are also more likely to agree that the justice system protects democratic principles and basic citizen rights.

Again, the flip side of these results is that - given the low overall efficacy levels of Jamaicans - those who feel ineffective to make a difference will be more likely to distrust the basic political institutions and processes, to question their legitimacy, and to doubt the effectiveness of the government in combating poverty, unemployment, corruption, and other chronic social ailments.

The extent of perceived political influence or powerlessness also varies according to one's position in Jamaican society, as well as to aspects of the personality of the perceiver. Not surprisingly, those who occupy positions of higher status and privilege in the Jamaican social hierarchy feel more politically empowered than those of lower social status. One's objective income level, one's subjective sense of income adequacy, and the degree of concern over unemployment all have an impact on the extent to which Jamaicans feel that they are, or are not, efficacious in dealing with the political system in which they find themselves embedded. Aspects of personality also clearly have some impact on the extent to which Jamaicans feel they can make a difference. Thus, persons with a strong sense of interpersonal trust are more likely to feel politically efficacious, as are persons who are extroverted, emotionally stable, agreeable, and conscientious.

Powerlessness and social capital

As should be clear from this brief summary of national survey trends, there are significant associations between these experienced powerlessness levels and some of the chronic dysfunctions within Jamaican society - of weak trust in the sociopolitical institutions, in parties and elections, and in the capability of the Government to solve problems. The data reveal consistent correlations of these feelings with a lack of citizen engagement and participation in building a stronger civic order. As such, it is evident that this felt powerlessness to affect sociopolitical outcomes constitutes a hindrance to building social capital, and to the development process more generally.

Eventual transition to a national electoral system that is more genuinely responsive to the full range of citizen preferences might help in overcoming this chronic citizen malaise - for example, a shift towards publicly funded campaigns, with multi-party representation of interests; and away from the voter choice-limiting, garrison-based, two-party electoral 'lock'. National policies that consciously foster a greater sense of active citizen inclusion, empowerment, and civic engagement in the process of building the nation might also be helpful, as components of overall development strategies.

Lawrence Alfred Powell is honorary research fellow at the Centre of Methods and Policy Application in the Social Sciences (COMPASS) at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and the former polling director for the Centre for Leadership and Governance at UWI, Mona. For further information on trends described in this article, see the USAID/LAPOP report titled 'The Political Culture of Democracy in Jamaica, 2010: Democratic Consolidation in the Americas in Hard Times'. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and lapowell.auckland@ymail.com.