ABSTRACT
Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago are members of a group of countries which together constitute a distinct region with a sense of commonality reinforced by the trend towards regionalism reflected. In Jamaica, party rivalry is the most intense in the region; the two major parties, the People’s National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party continuously alternating in office since party government was introduced in 1944. By contrast, opposition parties have tended to be weak in Trinidad and Tobago; one party, the People’s National Movement remaining in office for 30 years continuously until losing to a coalition of parties by a landslide defeat in December 1986. In Trinidad and Tobago, as in Jamaica, public enterprise burgeoned during the 1970s. The experience of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, each in its own way, validates the view that public enterprise must play a significant role in a developing country, irrespective of the ideological orientation of the party in power at a particular time.
