Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic: Government and Politics
while removing material objectionable to church and business
interests.
The Executive
Within the Dominican Republic, the 1966 constitution is
widely viewed as giving the president extraordinary powers (see
fig. 5). Although the formal powers of the president are fairly
extensive, in fact they are more limited than in several other
Latin American countries, given the absence of extensive
decree powers, constitutional budgetary powers, a partial veto,
and the ability to force referenda.
The president has often been perceived as having near-dictatorial
powers because of the willingness of some incumbents,
particularly Balaguer, to abuse the powers of their office in the
absence of effective checks from the legislature or the judiciary.
In doing so, such incumbents built upon historical patterns
of patrimonialism and strong-man rule that had gained a
degree of support in society. Thus, Balaguer and, to a much
lesser extent, other presidents during this period assumed vast
informal (and sometimes unconstitutional) powers to create
taxes, set budgets by decree, spend money, and ignore numerous
laws. In contrast, when presidents have sought to govern in
a fashion that is more democratic and more respectful of the
other branches of government, such as is largely the case with
Leonel Fernandez Reyna, who has governed with only minority
support in Congress and with a more independent judiciary,
their power has appeared more limited and constrained.
The constitution vests executive power in a president who is
elected by direct popular vote and whose term of office is four
years. Until 1994 nothing in the constitution prohibited a president
from seeking reelection. Balaguer was reelected in 1970
and in 1974; following defeats in 1978 and 1982, he was elected
again to the presidency in 1986. He was reelected in 1990 and
again in 1994. Well-documented allegations of fraud, however,
led to international pressure and an internal political crisis that
was finally resolved by negotiation and constitutional reform:
Balaguer's presidential term was shortened to two years, and
the constitution was amended to prohibit immediate presidential
reelection. The 1994 reform also introduced a mandatory
second round among the top two vote getters in presidential
elections if no candidate received a majority of the votes cast in
the first round.
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