Permanent Secretary in Dominica’s Tourism & Urban Renewal Ministry of earns PHD at a Canadian University

Permanent Secretary (Ag.) in the Ministry of Tourism and Urban Renewal, Gerard Jean-Jacques has earned the title of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. The Université Laval in Quebec, Canada conferred the title of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science on Jean-Jacques for successfully defending his thesis on May 9, 2016.
The thesis titled “Power relations and good governance: a social network analysis of the evolution of the integrity in public office act in the commonwealth of Dominica,” focuses on the evolution of the Integrity in Public Office Act until 2008. 
The main thrust of the thesis is power relations among rational actors who were involved in the evolution of the IPO. It investigated why Dominica developed and implemented that particular design of the IPO in 2003. Jean-Jacques found that rational actors who were quite aware of their positions within a network of actors used their power resources to shape the IPO so that it served them and their allies.
For that body of work, Jean-Jacques received a grade of “Excellent Thesis”—the highest evaluation possible. Dr. Jean-Jacques’ areas of academic specialization are public policy, public administration, governance, and public management with interest in democracy and power. Jean-Jacques commenced his programme at Laval in Quebec, Canada in 2011. He returned to Dominica in 2013 to continue field research on the IPO.
Dr. Jean-Jacques grew up on Cork Street in the capital city Roseau and is the son of Ruthine James, a janitor and roadside vendor and deceased Hubert Jean-Jacques a peasant farmer.