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Dominican Republic GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Government: Republic with elected representative
governmental system. Executive was dominant branch.
Presidents
served four-year terms and could be reelected.
Legislature, known
formally as Congress of the Republic, consisted of Senate
and
Chamber of Deputies. Judicial power exercised by Supreme
Court of
Justice and by other courts created by 1966 Constitution
and by
law. All judges chosen by Senate, not by president.
Provincial
(state) governors appointed by president; municipalities
(counties) governed by elected mayors and municipal
councils.
Politics: Following independence from Haiti in
1844,
country characterized by political instability for almost
a
century. Dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina took
power in
1930 and ruled in repressive authoritarian fashion until
his
assassination in 1961. Brief civil war broke out in 1965
between
liberal Constitutionalists--supporters of 1963
constitution
promulgated during short-lived presidency of Juan Bosch
Gaviño--
and conservative Loyalist military factions. Conflict
aborted by
direct military intervention by United States. Subsequent
elections brought Trujillo protégé Balaguer to presidency,
an
office he held for twelve years. Balaguer's attempt to
nullify
1978 elections thwarted by pressure from Washington,
allowing
Silvestre Antonio Guzmán Fernandez of social democratic
Dominican
Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario
Dominicano--PRD) to
assume nation's leadership. PRD also won 1982 elections
with
lawyer Salvador Jorge Blanco as its standard bearer. Both
PRD
governments plagued by economic difficulties that forced
them to
institute austerity measures instead of social reforms
they
initially advocated. Declining popularity of Jorge
government
contributed to Balaguer's election for a fourth term
beginning in
1986.
International Relations: Diplomatic activities
concentrated on Caribbean, Latin America, United States,
and
Western Europe. Relations with neighboring Haiti
traditionally
strained, owing to numerous cultural divergences and long
history
of Dominicans' and Haitians' meddling in each other's
affairs.
Most important international relationship with United
States, on
which Dominican Republic has political, economic, and
strategic
dependence.
International Agreements and Membership:
Signatory of
Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio
Treaty) and
all major inter-American conventions. Member of United
Nations
and its specialized agencies, Organization of American
States,
International Monetary Fund (see Glossary),
Inter-American
Development Bank, and other multilateral financial
institutions.
Also adhered to General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
Data as of December 1989
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