FD13A Caribbean Society, Government and Law
Past Papers
ANSWER TWO (2) QUESTIONS, ONE (1) FROM EACH SECTION
SECTION A
1. In Caribbean societies during slavery there was rigid emphasis on law rather than on justice. Discuss.
2. "A woman's place is in the home." To what extent did this viewpoint influence the law regarding women in the British Caribbean up to the time of independence.
3. To what extent is the law today in the Anglophone Caribbean the ally of the mass of the people against injustice.
4. EITHER (a): "The State is the executive committee of the ruling class" (Marx). Discuss
OR (b): Do the views of Locke, Hobbes and Rousseau on the question of the State have any relevance to the political realities of the Caribbean?5. Does the second chamber make a valuable contribution to the parliamentary system in the Commonwealth Caribbean?
6. What are the critical issues of governance confronting the Caribbean in the era of structural adjustment and globalisation?
SECTION B
7. To what extent are Caribbean economies still subject to the imperatives of the plantation legacy?
8. Is Arthur Lewis' strategy of "industrialisation by invitation" relevant in the current period of globalisation?
9. Critically examine the respective merits of the three major theories of Caribbean society.
10. The development which Caribbean societies, in general, have achieved is in large measure due to the role of the peasantry. Discuss.
11. Are race and culture in the Caribbean more significant factors inhibiting the evolution of these societies than social class?
12. Compare the various theoretical approaches to poverty in the region. Which strategies in your view offer the most constructive prescription for its alleviation?
JUNE 2001
ANSWER TWO (2) QUESTIONS, ONE (1) FROM EACH SECTION
SECTION A
1. Describe the Slave Laws which developed in the British Caribbean during Slavery 1627 - 1838. How effectively did these laws control the society.
2. To what extent and in what ways did the laws in the British Caribbean discriminate against the fundamental rights of the people in the period after Slavery and before Independence.
3. Argue for and against the merits of changing the laws in the Caribbean to EITHER (a) replace the British Privy Council as the final Court of Appeal. OR (b) transform all CARICOM countries into Republics.
4. Account for the bicameral system of parliamentary government in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Can the second chamber be justified?
5. Which theory of the State best explains the political realities of our region?
6. What are the critical differences between the United States presidential system and the parliamentary system found virtually throughout the English-speaking Caribbean ?
7. Is it true that the Commonwealth Caribbean systems of government are based on the Westminster model?
SECTION B
8. In what ways and to what extent did industrialization in the Caribbean facilitate a breakaway from the stranglehold which the plantation system has had over the economies in the region?9. Examine the argument that further regional integration holds out the only hope for CARICOM countries in the present era of globalization.
10. Compare and contrast the major theories of Commonwealth Caribbean societies.
11. How have the legacies of the peasantry contributed to the development of the Caribbean?
12. Analyse the varying roles played by race and ethnicity in the Anglophone Caribbean.
13. "Indigenous Caribbean music has been a seminal force in the cultural development of
the region." Discuss.14. What, in the Caribbean context, is meant by the term "poverty"? How can it best be alleviated?
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