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By Evelyne Huber Stephens and John D. Stephens

Abstract

This paper presents an evaluation of the attempts made by the People's National Party (PNP) government under Michael Manley in Jamaica to chart a new path of development in the period 1972-80. It argues that, despite the negative record in economic growth, the PNP's pursuit of its democratic socialist development model was well conceptualized and resulted in some important achievements. Consequently, one should not conclude from the Jamaican experience that the democratic socialist model is unviable. The government made some progress in the areas of all its major goals, namely in reducing dependence (however partial the success in this area), in establishing a mixed economy with the cotmnanding heights under state control, in increasing social equality, in deepening political democracy, and in forging an independent foreign policy. Its major shortcomings were in the areas of macroeconomic management and in the implementation of many of its programs. Also, the government was not successful in creating a class alliance among the lower and middle classes and in coming to an accommodation with significant sectors of the capitalist class. And while it made important progress in strengthening the political movement, this progress fell short of what was needed to sustain the process in the face of the impact of the economic crisis. And finally, a more adept and skillful handling of its difficult geopolitical position could have spared the country some damage from United States hostility. In part, these shortcomings had their roots in the unfavorable conditions for embarking on a democratic socialist development path faced by the PNP in 1972, such as the great dependence and openness of the Jamaican economy, the limited capacity of the state apparatus, and the weakness of the political movement in term of the nonideological, nonparticipatory character of the party, and the divided labor movement. These conditions may be different in other countries as well as in Jamaica in the eighties, which together with lessons learned from previous experiences may increase the chances for success in future democratic socialist development attempts.

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