Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
were forced to confront an unexpected and sobering reality
when the populist priest came from nowhere to defeat
resoundingly their candidate and expected victor, Marc Bazin,
on the strength of the independent participation of voters
whose views and participation previously had not counted.
Indeed, many observers have attributed the subsequent support
of the military by Haiti's established political class at least
in part to the fact that they could not accept a political scenario
where their votes were equal to those of their maids and illiterate
peasants.
Since 1990 the inclusion in Haiti's political life of its former
political outsiders has expanded to include their participation
as candidates in local and national elections, and their ascension
to various elected posts. These trends have resulted in the
emergence of a heretofore largely unknown dynamic in Haitian
politics, that of increased accountability of elected officials
to their constituents. Port-au-Prince continues to be the center
of Haiti's political life, and political players based there loom
large in determining the country's political dynamics. Nevertheless,
the ascension of outsiders to meaningful inclusion in
the country's politics, combined with the disappearance of the
army as a political player and the partial eclipse of the dominant
power of urban political elites, has created an important
and fundamental alteration of Haiti's political dynamics.
Maintenance and Transfer of Power
During the twenty-nine-year rule of the Duvaliers, Haiti
resembled not a republic, but a dynastic monarchy, where a
leader extended his term of office at will, ultimately to become
"president-for-life," and power was transferred from father to
son. The Duvalier achievement of hereditary succession was
new to Haiti, but arbitrary term extensions and for-life presidencies
were not. Duvalier's immediate predecessors all tried
to extend their prescribed terms in office, and nine of his predecessors
had designated themselves chiefs of state for life. In
short, the primary goal of most Haitian leaders has been to
maintain themselves in power for as long as possible.
The governmental system prescribed by Haiti's 1987 constitution,
although still incomplete in its implementation, was
created in large part to constrain such presidential perfidy. The
five-year, nonconsecutive term of the top executives is only one
of a number of constraints aimed at ensuring regular and
orderly transitions of power. When President Aristide opted
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