Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

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Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
ernmental system and the initiation of a regular electoral calendar
based upon the duration of the terms of office of elected
officials. Progress toward the emplacement of a reformed judiciary
capable of functioning as an independent branch of government
has likewise been stalled, in part because of delays in
creating the government bodies responsible for nominating
judges.
Governmental Institutions
Haiti's complicated system of government is premised on the
need to decentralize governmental functions through the composition
of a series of executive and legislative bodies that correspond
to the country's geopolitical units. Those units are
departements, of which there are nine; communes (municipalities),
of which there are 133, approximating United States
counties; and sections communales (communal sections), of
which there are 565, corresponding roughly to United States
towns or districts.
Voters in each of the 565 communal sections elect to fouryear
terms a three-member Communal Section Administrative
Council and a seven- to twenty-five-member Communal Section
Assembly. Communal section assemblies serve a parliamentary
function; they are charged with advising and assisting the communal
section administrative councils, which are responsible
for administering the affairs of the communal section and,
hence, serve as the executive branch of local government.
Communal section assemblies also nominate justices of the
peace and appoint a representative to the Municipal Assembly,
which is the next legislative level of government (see table 26,
Appendix)
Each of Haiti's 133 municipalities has both a Municipal
Assembly and a Municipal Council. The assemblies are composed
of one member per communal section, plus a town delegation
whose members are elected to four-year terms.
Municipal assemblies serve an essentially parliamentary function,
overseeing the three-member Municipal Council, which is
elected to a four-year term and functions in an executive role.
The president of the Municipal Council serves as mayor.
The legislative and executive bodies in each of Haiti's nine
departments are the Departmental Assembly and the Departmental
Council, respectively. The assembly is constituted first,
comprising one member from each Municipal Assembly within
the department. The Departmental Assembly in turn elects
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