Political partisanship and political socialization in Jamaica.

Since 1944, there has been a democratic transfer of power in Jamaica within a well established two party system and a peaceful transition from colonial status to independent self government. There are many factors that have contributed to the history of open but limited political competition within the Jamaican political system. Undoubtedly the presence of a common antagonist-the colonial power of Great Britain provided a powerful integrating and limiting force within the polity. However, important changes have occurred in the distribution of economic and political power and in traditional norms and values in the last twenty years. The steady withdrawal of colonial rule has coincided with an intensification of the conflict between Jamaican political elites as more national power devolved from British to Jamaican government. Since the achievement of political independence in 1962, political conflict has been sufficiently amplified so that some observers feel it poses a potential threat to the limited partisanship and democratic exchange of power that has characterized Jamaican political system.