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Regional Party Voting in Jamaica (1959-1976)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Carl Stone*
Affiliation:
Department of Government, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica

Extract

The analysis of voting behavior patterns from electoral statistics aggregated by regions and urban and rural districts has a long and rich tradition (Lipset and Rokkan, 1967). This mode of electoral analysis has, however, declined in usage due to the emergence of the sample survey method, which allows for a more detailed analysis of individual voting choices and the related social and attitudinal factors which influence them.

It is often forgotten, however, that aggregate analysis of area or geographically defined voting statistics is a low-cost research method when compared to the exclusive and much more expensive sample survey research method. Aggregate analysis can be applied effectively with careful adaptation to most of the areas of electoral analysis, particularly so in societies in which community and residential patterns are structured according to clear socioeconomic and stratification variables such as income, status, and occupation. This applies as well to societies in which regional and cerritorial divisions are more than just administrative units but represent focal points of local identities and loyalties.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1978

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References

Lipset, S. and Rokkan, S. (1967) Party Systems and Voter Alignments—Cross National Perspectives. New ‘fork: Free Press.Google Scholar
Munroe, T. (1970) Political Change and Constitutional Development in Jamaica. Kingston: University of the West Indies, ISER.Google Scholar
Rae, D. (1967) The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Stone, C. (1978) “Class and status voting in Jamaica.” Social and Economic Studies 26: 279293.Google Scholar
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Stone, C. (1974) Electoral Behaviour and Public Opinion in Jamaica. Kingston: University of the West Indies, ISER.Google Scholar
Stone, C. (1973) Class, Race and Political Behaviour in Urban Jamaica. Kingston: University of the West Indies, ISER.Google Scholar