Look in the dictionary for the verb 'to elect' and the first definition is usually 'to choose'. It is, however, the second definition that springs most readily to the minds of most Jamaicans: 'to choose (a person) by vote'.

The authors are members of the teaching staff in the department of Government, Sociology and Social Work at the UWI's Cave Hill campus. Their book is intended to provide a historical, descriptive and analytical account of elections and its processes in the Commonwealth Caribbean, spanning the six decades since the introduction of universal adult suffrage in the region.

A valuable compendium of statistical data, for analysts and party officials, as well as for students and others interested in the evolution of Caribbean democracy and its prospects into the 21st century and beyond, the book is dedicated to the memory of Patrick Emmanuel, former Deputy Dean of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Cave Hill, on whose pioneering compilations and analysis of party systems published in 1992 the authors have sought to build.

The book includes sections on countries not often the focus of such attention: Anguilla, the Bahamas and Belize. Alongside these, data and research are to be found on Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Guyana, as well as St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Dominica and St Lucia.
There are five chapters in all, plus an impressive set of 73 tables to support arguments and conclusions.

Chapter 1: An overview of electoral changes in the English-speaking Caribbean
The introduction begins:

"The widely held view of the Commonwealth Caribbean as a region which has been able to sustain a consistent record of commitment to democracy, 'free and fair' elections and open party electoral competition, despite the challenges of poverty and underdevelopment, has not been sullied in the period into the early twenty-first century."

Perhaps 'sullied' is putting it rather forcefully, but many opportunities will be found to show concern for the effects of such factors as one-party dominance in association with the first-past-the-post system, in the process of comparing and contrasting events of the 1950s, say, with those of the 1980s and beyond. The authors are careful not "to suggest that Caribbean elections were conducted in an atmosphere of complete openness and total freedom from questionable practices", citing examples to prove their point.

Chapter 2: Patterns in electoral turn-out
Turn-out of voters to elections is examined in the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. The Bahamas situation is a unique case in which, not only did the franchise favour the economic white and coloured elite, but it also excluded women. In addition, its geographical situation as a large number of islands lent itself to plural voting.

Intense racial political rivalry makes Guyana a special case also, giving rise to irregularities not readily found in other territories. It has, however, been found that "electoral figures in Guyana have [since 1992] returned to respectability" and to a restoration of confidence in the system.

Chapter 3: Electoral outcomes and party fortunes
Once more the negatives brought about by division along racial lines are discussed in the cases of the Bahamas and Guyana. The cycle of "two-term alternation" is discussed for Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the latter being characterised, although to a lesser extent than Guyana, by racial divisiveness.

The phenomenon of a break-away third party in Jamaica is highlighted, and the following conclusion arrived at: "It can be safely concluded. that despite the electoral dominance of the PNP since 1989, the politics of Jamaica will continue to manifest the tendencies of the classic two-part model. and electoral competition and alternation between the PNP and the JLP."

Chapter 4: Women and voting
Tables show the year women first contested general elections and the year they first won a seat, both for the period 1944-2005. Reasons put forward for the gender disparities - quite apart from the fact that in the earlier periods "women had been formally debarred from being candidates or voters" - are sex role socialisation; and education, occupation and income.

The point is made that since, in the Commonwealth Caribbean today, more women than men are the beneficiaries of higher education, "this should provide the basis for greater inclusion of women in party and electoral politics". However, "there is also the question of the availability/ willingness of women to enter. politics. The conclusion that may be drawn. is three-fold.

Firstly, women have increasingly shown interest in national politics. Secondly, judging by the selection of candidates by. parties, there is significant regional variation and thirdly, parties, the gatekeepers to national political office, are not always supportive of female candidacy." Despite the marked bias towards male candidates, however, the situation has varied over time, with Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, in that order, outperforming the other countries.

The interesting point is made that, in the case of Dominica, Eugenia Charles' unmarried status may have assisted her rise to premier. On the other hand, Cynthia Gairy of Grenada and Ivy Joshua of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Janet Jagan of Guyana may have been favoured precisely because they were the wives "of widely supported and admired political figures in their countries". It must be noted that the Bahamas, although "the last. to have enfranchised women [has] made remarkable strides. to reverse the gender discrimination in politics".

Chapter 5: The status of party financing
Here the authors examine the question of party financing and its impact on the political process and the quality of governance. It is understood that the staging of an election requires tremendous capital outlay by parties and candidates.

There has been generally over time a tendency to move away from the weekly public community meetings that once were a feature of campaigning, in favour of "door-to-door canvassing, expensive television [advertising] and huge entertainment-style rallies". The authors discuss the growing tendency towards private donations, and the danger of 'pork barrel' graft and "the peddling of governmental decision-making power".

Given the recent experience in Jamaica of elaborate campaigning by party delegates to become PNP chairman, and as a result prime minister, murmurs of the millions spent are fresh.

Speculation is rife as to where such financing came from. As the authors state: "The question of party financing will continue to be debated as Caribbean democracy moves into a new phase.

Any resolution to this delicate question will involve a rethinking of. attitudes towards. integrity legislation, public accountability and transparency mechanisms and [most of all]. protecting the wishes of Caribbean electors from subversion to foreign and local moneyed interests."

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