There is a sense in which Barbadians are participating less, with few exceptions, in critical endeavours that make-up the economic, political, and social fabric of the country’s well-being. The question is: is the reduced participation affecting our well-being or is the reduced well-being affecting the participation?
Every five years, it is possible to measure the reduced participation in the political process by way of the voter turnout in the general election. This raises several questions about the parliamentary democracy that is paraded as participatory democracy. And to the extent that there is no obvious correlation between the country’s well-being and the vote, the relevance of the latter may diminish over time, which is very damaging to (and for) the political progress.
In the circumstances, it is becoming increasingly evident that a political party may choose to ignore the important issues that could enhance the country’s well-being, if it believes that the more salacious stuff would excite the electorate sufficiently to secure a victory at the polls. This kind of victory has a short shelf-life as the important issues are the ones needed to improve the country’s well-being.Â
There is no better example in our country’s political history of the danger of trading important issues for salacious ones than what happened in the 2008 general election, which was compounded in the subsequent election and for which the country is now paying a very heavy price. Unfortunately, a major challenge is how to reverse the trend of reduced participation, otherwise a way may be found to reward mediocrity.
In essence, while the country’s well-being has been repeatedly eroded by bad policies, the current Government may once again find a way to avoid dealing with the important issues, which is a major obvious weakness of our parliamentary democracy.
A people’s participatory democracy is a must if the country’s downward slide is to be arrested. An election must therefore be more than a contest to secure the majority vote; it must be about the country’s immediate and future well-being.
In every sense – economic, political or social – the most important indicator of well-being in a country is its ability to create employment for the people.
There is no denying that economic growth is a necessary condition for employment creation. It is only not a sufficient condition because the public sector may create employment in the face of a declining economy as happened over the last six years with the consequential effects, since such employment is not sustainable.
The sending home of over 3 000 public servants and the prospect of more layoffs in this fiscal year re the consequence of the unsustainability of public sector job creation in a declining economy. There is nothing wrong with job creation in the public sector that results from sustainable economic growth and development.
If the government is able to employ thousands of people at the same time that the private sector is laying off workers, then there is a misreading of the economic environment by one of the two sectors.
Over the course of the last six years, the Government repeatedly said that this was the worst economic recession since the 1930s, therefore the private sector did not misread the environment. In fact, it was praised by the previous prime minister for maintaining job levels in a difficult economic environment.
Barbadians are currently participating less in the economy as measured by the labour force survey.
Surprisingly to some, the unemployment rate is still hovering around 14 per cent. This is the result of a declining labour force, as Barbadians seem less and less optimistic about their chances of employment and have opted to stay out of the labour force in increasing numbers. The unemployment rate measures the percentage of the labour force that do not have a job but are seeking one.
The option not to seek a job effectively reduces the number of people officially unemployed. This kind of behaviour is somewhat similar to the declining voter outturn, except that is more frequently measured.
The costs of reduced participation in the country’s well-being are being underestimated and certainly taken for granted. No country, much less one with limited resources, can afford to knowingly play with its immediate or future well-being.  Â
Dr Clyde Mascoll is an economist and Opposition Barbados Labour Party adviser on the economy.