Votes and Influence For Sale

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The Caribbean Is One Nation.
 
                                                              Votes and Influence For Sale

It is now blatantly obvious that electing governments in the Caribbean is becoming more about money than ideas. Vote buying and selling seem to be at a very high and disgusting level and with rising unemployment along with widespread cynicism among Caribbean youth, this negative trend and brazen threat to our democracies seem unstoppable.
Voter turnout at elections, usually held every five or so years, is seldom above sixty percent, which means that a considerable number of those eligible to vote, are simply not making the effort to “mark the X” thereby voluntarily excluding themselves from an essential part of the democratic process.
Occasionally, concerned citizens throughout the region, call for a more participatory form of democracy, which will give all citizens more say in how their countries are managed. Such callings usually rise and fall, according to the political and social climate at the time. However, they are seldom taken seriously by the broader society. This leads to understandable frustration among progressive thinkers and guarantees the continued existence of the floundering political managerial class.
Most of the political parties that have ensured the entrenchment of the political managerial class, have successfully transformed themselves into monolithic institutions  and they prop up and defend the existing status quo at all costs. They are assured of the support of a solid block of die hard supporters and are therefore gleefully aware, that they will form the government at some time.
Electorates in the Caribbean usually reward winning parties, with two consecutive terms but are known to historically reject them, or as we say, vote them out after three. It means that parties will be in office for fifteen years or three election cycles, at the most.  So most parties in opposition simply bide their time, in full knowledge that they will be in office at some time, regardless of the performance of the government. It is a form of musical chairs that attracts those who see political involvement as  social climbing and improvement in financial status, and not as any philosophical or ideological exercise.
In the meantime, many voters decide that since 

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