2. WHAT IS POLITICAL ENFRANCHISEMENT?
Political enfranchisement refers to the right of a people or
nation to determine their own affairs. Under colonialism the
Caribbean colony was under the control of the European
power. However, once after emancipation had been achieved it
was only a matter of time before Caribbean people would
develop the skills and experience necessary to challenge the
status quo. In the years after emancipation, thousands of
Caribbean people migrated to different regional destinations
for work and better wages. This propelled the process towards
Constitutional Decolonization, which is the process whereby the
colony achieves independence.
3. In the 1930’s economic conditions had deteriorated to such a
level that the region was wracked by labour riots, strikes and
wide-scale protests. Violence and mayhem followed. This
period saw the rise of charismatic leaders in the labour
movement who, riding on their mass popularity, made the
successful transition to political leaders. Uriah Buzz Butler,
Adrian Cola Rienzi and Captain A.A Cipriani of Trinidad and
Tobago became a working class movement dedicated
towards better working conditions for the poor as well as
improvements in health and education. This concern with the
social welfare made it inevitable that the trade unions would
be the birth place for Caribbean political parties.
4. ADULT SUFFRAGE
Adult suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to
adult citizens (or subjects) as a whole, though it may also
mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens.
Although adult suffrage has two necessary components, the
right to vote and opportunities to vote, the term adult suffrage
is associated only with the right to vote and ignores the other
aspect. Where universal suffrage exists, the right to vote is not
restricted by race, sex, belief, sexual orientation, gender
identity, wealth, social status or disability.
5. Historically, universal suffrage often in fact refers to
universal adult male suffrage. The concept of
universal suffrage originally referred to all male
citizens having the right to vote, regardless of
property requirements or other measures of wealth.
6. In the first modern democracies, the vote was restricted
to those having adequate property and wealth, which
almost always meant a minority of the male population.
In some jurisdictions, other restrictions existed, such as
restrictions on voters of a given religion. In all modern
democracies the number of people who could vote
increased gradually with time. The 19th century featured
movements advocating "universal suffrage" (i.e. male)
The democratic movement of the late 19th century,
unifying liberals and social democrats, particularly in
northern Europe, used the slogan Equal and Common
Suffrage.
The concept of universal suffrage does not imply any
impropriety in placing restrictions on the voting of
convicted criminals or mentally ill persons. Such
restrictions exist in many countries with universal
suffrage. Equally, some universal suffrage systems
apply only to resident citizens.
7. For example, non-white people could not vote in
national elections during apartheid-era South Africa,
until the system came to an end with the first free
multi-party elections in 1994. In the pre-Civil Rights
Era American South, African Americans often
technically had the right to vote, but various means
prevented many of them from exercising that right.
8. INTERNAL SELF GOVERNMENT
o The term internal self government meant that the
Head of Government and the Cabinet are in control
of all the domestic matters, except security.
o It may be applied to a group or an institution. An
autonomous person is, fundamentally, one able to
act according to his or her own direction. An
autonomous institution is one able to regulate its
own affairs.
Internal self-governance usually comprises at least
the following:
Political independence; autonomy.
Popular or representative government; democracy.
Self-control.
9. ECONOMIC ENFRANCHISEMENT
Economic enfranchisement is the condition whereby a
country or nation achieves the right to determine how it will
develop its system of production. For example, while under
colonialism the economy was largely organized by the
Europeans power. Plantation economies were based on large
quantities of cheap, unskilled, manual labour and
monoculture(production of one cash crop mainly sugar cane,
cocoa, bananas, ginger, cotton, coconuts and arrowroots).
Food production , the growing of fruits and vegetables and
provisions was mainly left to ex-slaves and indentured
labourers.
10. The downturn in sugar prices caused the decline in
the plantation economies; as a result the peasant
farmers developed alternative crops (cocoa,
banana, coffee, ginger arrowroot) for export and
national consumption.
The peasant system developed an economic basis
for independence from the plantation and the
colonial rule by:
-attempted to developed a diversified local economy
-freed slaves became self-sufficient
-freed slaves became independent of the plantation
and low wages offered by the plantation owners
-developed an export market
