Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic: Government and Politics
institutions and formal rules, including flawed and sometimes
fraudulent elections. Democratization also has been hindered
by the lack of sustained progress in strengthening a more democratic
and plural civil society, democratizing political institutions,
and making state institutions more coherent and more
accountable.
To understand the system of government in the Dominican
Republic, as well as some of the major challenges political
democracy confronts, it is crucial to understand the formal
rules as defined by the constitution and electoral and other key
laws. It is equally important to understand the informal norms,
legacies of patrimonial politics, and strong-man rule under
which politics has operated. Laws and legal procedures have
often been ignored, manipulated, or changed in the pursuit of
power and of policy, including in negotiations to facilitate
political transitions or to control the military.
This tension between the formal rules and the informal
norms of politics was especially evident during the presidential
periods of Balaguer, even when he governed in a somewhat
more democratic fashion during the 1986-96 period. Over
time, there has been a growing demand from the institutional
voices of business and from elements of civil society, particularly
those representing middle-sector groups, for a change in
this political style. Such elements seek a greater respect for
institutionality and the rule of law, both within the state and
within political parties. Dominican business people and civil
society in general have increasingly recognized that effective
citizenship requires reductions in severe poverty and marked
inequality as well as improvements in education and health.
Yet, for various reasons, movement away from the informal
norms of patrimonial, clientelist politics has been difficult, and
much remains to be done. Even presidents who may not have
entered office intending to foster these norms have often
employed or succumbed to them. Many politicians across all
the major parties have continued to pursue political office as
much for personal or narrow parochial gain as for the pursuit
of ideological or policy goals. Given high levels of poverty, weak
societal organizations, and the country's historical patterns,
many of the politicians' followers expect them to satisfy
demands in a personalist, clientelist fashion, rather than in an
institutional, impersonal one. Even as business organizations
encourage reform and many companies largely respect the
rules, other firms have grown accustomed to operating in an
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