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Contemporary challenges in nation - Politics and the rule of lawbuilding
published: Sunday | April 1, 2007 <DIV class=KonaBody PMue0="true">
Dr. Peter Phillips, Contributor
Norman Manley, Leader of the Opposition and president of the People's National Party, leading the demonstration down King Street, downtown Kingston, after addressing a crowd at South Parade in this June 1968 file photo.
My generation growing up in the immediate post-Independence years was never able to experience first hand the measure of the man. He was, of course, a looming presence in the society, a man of almost mythic proportions.
In Norman Manley's case, however, the passage of time and more sober reflection have not reduced the stature of the man. On the contrary, a more comprehensive examination of the history of the period confirms the judgement of N.W. Manley as the critical individual influence shaping Jamaica's national movement as we moved to Independence. It was Manley, leading the People's National Party (PNP) who articulated and successfully laid claim to nationhood on behalf of the Jamaican people.
MANLEY AND THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT
As we all know, 1938 was the watershed year. The labour rebellion, protesting poor wages and working conditions, forced the confluence of all the currents of civic and political ferment. In this heady atmosphere, the PNP was formed that September. The central political demand was clear: self-government and nationhood.
Manley at the time put it thus:
"Either make up our minds to go back to Crown colony government and have nothing to do with our government at all; or have your voice and face the hard road of political organisation, facing the hard road of discipline, developing your own capacities, your own powers and leadership and your own people to the stage where they are capable of administering their own affairs." (Speech at the launch of the PNP.)
The substance of Manley's legacy, however, transcends the mere demand for nationhood. Much more than that, he was able by virtue of his legendary self-discipline, order and hard work to elaborate the essentials of his vision of nationhood and to lay the foundation, erect the institutional architecture of the political and administrative arrangement. In addition, he helped define identities, loyalties and ideas that still today represent the essence of Jamaican nationhood.
THE CORE OF HIS LEGACY
What then constitutes the core of this legacy? On one level, there is the institutional legacy. Central to this of course is the PNP, and indeed, the two-party system itself to which Manley was deeply committed as an ideal (P. 47 Manley and the New Jamaica).
Beyond that, however, were a range of national institutions that gave substance to statehood, including Jamaica Welfare (later Social Development Commission), The Central Planning Unit (currently Planning Institute of Jamaica), the Bank of Jamaica, Agricultural Development Corporation, the Scientific Research Council, the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation and Common Entrance [now GSAT], to name just a few of the currently existing national institutions that had their origins in N.W Manley's vision and efforts, and which for the most part were establishedduring the PNP's first term in office between 1955 and 1959.
The second and perhaps more critical aspect of the national movement's inheritance from Manley is the philosophical or ideological legacy. From the vantage point of political philosophy, Manley's commitments centred upon nationhood (nationalism), democracy and egalitarianism and the rule of law. These were the continuously intertwined principles that guided his poli
published: Sunday | April 1, 2007 <DIV class=KonaBody PMue0="true">
Dr. Peter Phillips, Contributor
Norman Manley, Leader of the Opposition and president of the People's National Party, leading the demonstration down King Street, downtown Kingston, after addressing a crowd at South Parade in this June 1968 file photo.
My generation growing up in the immediate post-Independence years was never able to experience first hand the measure of the man. He was, of course, a looming presence in the society, a man of almost mythic proportions.
In Norman Manley's case, however, the passage of time and more sober reflection have not reduced the stature of the man. On the contrary, a more comprehensive examination of the history of the period confirms the judgement of N.W. Manley as the critical individual influence shaping Jamaica's national movement as we moved to Independence. It was Manley, leading the People's National Party (PNP) who articulated and successfully laid claim to nationhood on behalf of the Jamaican people.
MANLEY AND THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT
As we all know, 1938 was the watershed year. The labour rebellion, protesting poor wages and working conditions, forced the confluence of all the currents of civic and political ferment. In this heady atmosphere, the PNP was formed that September. The central political demand was clear: self-government and nationhood.
Manley at the time put it thus:
"Either make up our minds to go back to Crown colony government and have nothing to do with our government at all; or have your voice and face the hard road of political organisation, facing the hard road of discipline, developing your own capacities, your own powers and leadership and your own people to the stage where they are capable of administering their own affairs." (Speech at the launch of the PNP.)
The substance of Manley's legacy, however, transcends the mere demand for nationhood. Much more than that, he was able by virtue of his legendary self-discipline, order and hard work to elaborate the essentials of his vision of nationhood and to lay the foundation, erect the institutional architecture of the political and administrative arrangement. In addition, he helped define identities, loyalties and ideas that still today represent the essence of Jamaican nationhood.
THE CORE OF HIS LEGACY
What then constitutes the core of this legacy? On one level, there is the institutional legacy. Central to this of course is the PNP, and indeed, the two-party system itself to which Manley was deeply committed as an ideal (P. 47 Manley and the New Jamaica).
Beyond that, however, were a range of national institutions that gave substance to statehood, including Jamaica Welfare (later Social Development Commission), The Central Planning Unit (currently Planning Institute of Jamaica), the Bank of Jamaica, Agricultural Development Corporation, the Scientific Research Council, the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation and Common Entrance [now GSAT], to name just a few of the currently existing national institutions that had their origins in N.W Manley's vision and efforts, and which for the most part were establishedduring the PNP's first term in office between 1955 and 1959.
The second and perhaps more critical aspect of the national movement's inheritance from Manley is the philosophical or ideological legacy. From the vantage point of political philosophy, Manley's commitments centred upon nationhood (nationalism), democracy and egalitarianism and the rule of law. These were the continuously intertwined principles that guided his poli