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Haiti Chapter 9. Haiti: Government and Politics
![[GIF]](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/haiti/ht09_00a.gif)
Figure from a painting by Dieuseul Paul
WHEN IT SECURED ITS INDEPENDENCE from France, Haiti
moved to
the forefront of political history. The Haitian Revolution
took
place at the same period as the American and the French
revolutions, and Haiti was one of the first nations to
abolish
slavery. In some ways, however, Haiti's political
development
lagged behind that of other nations. Its government
functioned
like a protostate compared with the more modern systems
that
evolved in other states. Authoritarianism, typical among
archaic
states based on monarchy and despotism, characterized
Haiti's
political history. Haitian governments historically had
lacked
well-developed institutions, elaborate bureaucracies, and
an
ability to do more than maintain power and extract wealth
from a
large peasant base. Haiti's rural areas, where the
majority of
the population lives, traditionally has benefited least
from
government expenditures, and they have suffered for the
past 500
years from virtually uninterrupted military domination.
In the late 1980s, the Haitian political system was in
a
profound state of crisis, which became acute during the
waning
months of 1985 as swelling popular unrest led to the fall
of the
Jean-Claude Duvalier government on February 7, 1986. After
Duvalier's fall, a series of short-lived governments ruled
the
country.
In retrospect, the post-Duvalier period may be viewed
as a
transition to consolidation of longer-term control over
the
Haitian state by one (or more) of several competing
political
factions. In mid-1989, however, the political situation
continued
to be in a state of flux; many claimants to power competed
with
each other, while Haiti's public institutions languished.
Even
Haiti's armed forces, the country's most powerful
institution,
suffered from factionalism, corruption, and a general
breakdown
in the chain of command. Pressure to overhaul the
political
system mounted. To a significant degree, the political
crisis of
the transitional period pitted regressive Duvalierist
elements,
who advocated complete or partial restoration of the
ancien
régime, against popular aspirations for change.
The spectacle of five successive governments between
February
1986 and September 1988 reflected the nation's political
instability. This period witnessed the election of a
constituent
assembly, the popular ratification of a new constitution,
repeated massacres of citizens exercising their political
rights-
-such as the right to vote in free elections--and battles
between
army factions. The succession of governments included the
decaying, hereditary dynasty of the Duvaliers; the
military-civilian National Council of Government (Conseil
National de Gouvernement--CNG) led by Lieutenant General
Henri
Namphy, that underwent several changes in membership,
leading to
a reduction in the size of, and the civilian
representation in,
the government; a four-month civilian government headed by
President Leslie F. Manigat, who rose to power because the
armed
forces rigged the election; another government headed by
Namphy
as military dictator, originating after a coup against
Manigat;
and the replacement of Namphy by Lieutenant General
Prosper Avril
in yet another military coup. Threats from army factions
and
opposition from the old Duvalierist right wing continued
to
plague the Avril government
(see The Post-Duvalier Period
, ch.
10).
This apparent instability, however, tended to mask
underlying
political continuities. Before the fall of the Duvaliers,
the
last crisis of succession in Haiti had taken place in
1956-57,
when President Paul Magloire attempted to extend his
constitutional term of office
(see Politics and the Military, 1934-57
, ch. 6). During the period following Magloire's
overthrow, five governments rose and fell within the
nine-month
period prior to the accession of François Duvalier to the
presidency. There were also battles between competing army
factions during this period. From a longer perspective,
the postDuvalier period resembled the nineteenth century in Haiti,
when
transitory governments held power between relatively long
periods
of stability
(see Decades of Instability, 1843-1915
, ch.
6).
Data as of December 1989
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