Conclusion

• Author: Cynthia Barrow-Giles
• Pages: 155-160

Conclusion155

The review of Caribbean elections between 1992 and 2005 has

provided a fixed snapshot of what is, by its very nature, a moving

and continually unfolding phenomenon. As such, the findings and

conclusions reached are, and could only have been cursory, tentative, and

temporally limited, both in terms of the specific issues highlighted, as

well as the range of analytical perspectives explored. Indeed, the essential

analytical value and utility of the conclusions and ideas of this work may

be enhanced or diminished with each new election.

When understood and accepted as a snapshot however, the utility of

this overview of Caribbean elections is more clearly appreciated. In the

first place given the transitive and moving nature of Caribbean elections,

any attempt to ascertain and understand the new directions in Caribbean

democracy and electoral trends must necessitate a ‘freezing’ of the existing

picture, in order that its links to past and possible future trends can be

grasped. In this regard, valuable information about electoral patterns

and outcomes throughout the English-speaking Caribbean from the

closing decade of the twentieth century into the opening decade of the

twenty-first, have been captured and analysed.

Among the more poignant of these trends and developments is

the persistence and deepening of the commitment to Caribbean

democracy over time. This is seen not only in the timely and open

manner in which Caribbean elections have been held, but also in a

number of developments surrounding the conduct of Caribbean

elections as well as involving the internal strengthening of the

CONCLUSION