Haiti

THE GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM

The formally reinstated 1987 Constitution did not accurately reflect the government of Haiti in 1989, however. The only constitutional reform that the Avril government had actually implemented was the new CEP. The reinstatement of the Constitution was essentially a mere gesture and not a restoration of the political process initiated by the 1986-87 constituent assembly. Under the partially restored Constitution, the Haitian president, drawn from the military, actually controlled all executive, legislative, and military functions. In the absence of a legislature, the president ruled by decree. This form of transitional military government also usurped judicial functions.

Data as of December 1989

Haiti - TABLE OF CONTENTS

• BACKGROUND: FROM DUVALIER TO AVRIL, 1957-89
• THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
• THE GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM
  • Governmental Institutions
  • The Functions of the State
  • Urban Dominance, Rural Stagnation
• POLITICAL DYNAMICS
  • Power Maintenance
  • Army Politics: Force and Counterforce
  • The President as Strongman
  • Perceptions of Democracy
  • The Mass Media
• INTEREST GROUPS
  • The Tonton Makout Network
  • Political Parties
  • The Upper and the Middle Classes
  • Other Groups
• FOREIGN RELATIONS