KINGSTON, Jamaica - A meritocracy exists where selection and promotion of people is based on merit, more specifically, their qualifications and performance. Regrettably, there's a deficit of meritocracy in the Caribbean.
In the national political arena, selection is based on political party affiliation, amount of money donated, race, class and gender. Civil servants are mostly promoted by seniority. Longevity and patience are more important than competence and performance.
At the regional level, one outstanding factor is nationalism. Another is that selection is often based on whether your nationality is underrepresented or has never held the post. At least, gender discrimination has been ended in this arena as much by regulation as by sheer weight of numbers.