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Formal institutions in dictatorship are known to improve authoritarian governance and promote power-sharing. Yet institutions also act as tools of information propagation and can be used by autocrats for signaling purposes. In this article, I argue that in times of weakness, dictators follow an expand-and-signal strategy, expanding the ruling coalition to decrease the relative power of coup plotters and then create visible formal institutions to signal strong support. Doing so decreases (1) the probability that a coup is launched and (2) that one succeeds if staged. I propose a formal model to unpack the mechanisms of my argument and use the case of the Dominican Republic during Rafael Trujillo's rule to illustrate my theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analytic paradigms of race and nation have dominated scholarship on the Dominican Republic and have framed social and cultural analysis in ways that have limited the theorizing of Dominican materials to a narrow focus on identity. These gatekeeping concepts have been especially influential in shaping Dominican studies in the United States and in defining the predominant questions of interest in the field. This article assesses the conceptual limits of race and nation as persistent modes of analysis applied to the Dominican Republic and evaluates how these restrictive themes both shape and are shaped by conventional ideas about Dominican society. We argue for deeper engagement with homegrown scholarship and voices on the ground in order to move beyond repetitive and provincial concerns with “Dominicanness” and to trouble the far-too-common portrayal of the country as a novel racial problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the time the English translation of Juan Bosch's story "The Indelible Spot" was published in the Saturday Evening Post on November 16, 1963, his eight-month presidency was over. Bosch's brief tenure was punctuated by growing unrest among Dominicans on the Left and mounting suspicion from those on the Right. Central to this tension was the question of his loyalties to US-style democracy, Soviet communism, and/or Castro's Cuba. Against this backdrop, the tale of how his short story came to be translated and published is emblematic of the complex, contradictory, and confusing cultural and political discourses surrounding the future of the Dominican Republic within the sphere of US Cold War policies. Central to this analysis is the unique affiliation between two authors: Juan Bosch and John Bartlow Martin, the first US ambassador to the Dominican Republic after Trujillo's assassination. Ultimately, the communiques and notes about the translation and two distinct versions of the final published story found in Martin's papers at the Library of Congress reveal the ideological impasse between Cold War and Caribbean discourses of culture and power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bureaucratic behavior in developing countries remains poorly understood. Why do some public servants—yet not others—work hard to deliver public services, misuse state resources, and/or participate in electoral mobilization? A classic answer comes from Weber: Bureaucratic structures shift behavior toward integrity, neutrality, and commitment to public service. Our study conducts the first survey experimental test of the effects of bureaucratic structures. It does so through a conjoint experiment with public servants in the Dominican Republic. Looking at merit examinations and job stability, we find that Weber was right—but only partially. Recruitment by examination curbs corruption and political services by bureaucrats, while enhancing work motivation. Job stability, by contrast, only decreases political services: Tenured bureaucrats are less likely to participate in electoral mobilization. Examinations thus enhance the quality of bureaucracy (motivation and lower corruption) and democracy (electoral competition); job stability only enhances the quality of democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposes a classification of the degree of inclusiveness of law proposals to explore the role of the Dominican Legislative Power in the establishment or decline of particularistic responsiveness during the period from 1998 to 2010. It does so by identifying the institutional and party variables which influence the weight of district matters in the exercise of political representation. Statistical data shows that individualization and strategic selection prevail over the generality and abstraction of the mandate of representation, thus limiting the universal orientation of the public policy by the Legislative power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effect of perceived ethnoracial identity on electoral politics in the Dominican Republic and provides an explanation for the low salience of race and ethnicity in political behavior in Latin America. I argue that, under certain conditions, individuals will deal with ethnoracial discrimination and stratification through exit rather than voice—that is, they will reclassify their way out of marginalized ethnoracial categories instead of voting for candidates or parties that share their ethnoracial identities. This tends to be the case where ethnoracial group identity is inchoate and group boundaries are permeable. I also argue that where ethnoracial group loyalties are weak and immigration is widespread, citizens may emphasize national origin over race or ethnicity. Findings from an original field experiment and survey in Santo Domingo show that candidates did not consistently support candidates that shared their ethnoracial attributes, but they did slightly favor candidates perceived as white. Respondents strongly discriminated against candidates of Haitian origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the social process of denationalization for Haitians in the Dominican Republic. The author comments on the social conditions of Haitians and those of Haitian descent living in the Dominican Republic and comments on the migratory phenomenon between the two countries. The laws and regulations regarding Haitian immigration in the Dominican Republic are also examined.

This article analyzes theories of institutional trust in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, two developing countries that have shared some historical legacies but currently manifest divergent economic and political trajectories. The evidence confirms that conventional theories emphasizing participation and government performance help us understand institutional trust in both countries. In addition, the analysis emphasizes the analytical leverage gained by exploring the extent to which different facets of engagement have divergent effects on institutional trust. The findings build upon previous research to underscore the importance of considering how context shapes the precise ways in which performance and engagement influence institutional trust, particularly when analyzing the developing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Memorias is the property of Fundacion Universidad del Norte and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Through their struggles for better services, grassroots movements played a large role in the process of democratization and construction of social citizenship in the Dominican Republic. The modern grassroots movement, especially in relation to the uprising of April 1984, challenged the government's neoliberal policies and opened the way for the emergence of an independent movement that confronted both left-wing parties and organized labor. However, because the gains from expanding social citizenship remained limited in the face of the Dominican state's inability to formulate socio-economic policies, the movements at best posed a worthwhile goal that Dominican society may revisit in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do dominican political parties negotiate and what do they exchange? Analyzing the political agreements, electoral alliances and party shifting in Dominican Republic, this article presents a model of strategic cooperation, his types of interaction based on the principal actors (elites, parties or candidates), in a dual orientation (particularistic versus universalistic) determined by incentives and associate costs. The Dominican experience shows that the negotiate skills not always are used in the name of democratic governance, but reinforce the perverse institutionalization process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a 1788 document compiled by government official Pedro Catani, which reports on the economic development and the state of the government of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. He comments on the demographic characteristics of the island colony of Spain and also describes its agricultural capabilities.

This article discusses the ruling known as 168-13 of the Tribunal Constitucional Dominicano (Dominican Constitutional Court) in relation to the status of undocumented immigrants in the Dominican Republic. The author comments on the relationship between the national identity of the country and the presence of non-native populations. He describes the discriminatory nature of the law, which denies citizenship and nationality to children of illegal immigrants from Haiti living in the Dominican Republic. The international reaction to the judgment is also examined.

The article discusses the history of Santo Domingo (which was renamed the Dominican Republic) under the French General Jean-Louis Ferrand from 1804 through 1809. Particular focus is given to Ferrand's efforts, under the direction of the French Emperor Napoleon I, to re-enslave Santo Domingo and overthrow Haiti's ruler Toussaint Louverture. An overview of the slavery laws in Santo Domingo is provided. Ferrand's use of black Haitian captives as slaves, including the Haitians captured by the French who lived near the border with Santo Domingo, is provided.

The article explores the institutional anomalies of party system longevity, stability and competition that are known of the Dominican political system. The reasons comparative studies of Latin American political institutions often neglect the Dominican Republic (DR) are discussed. Also analyzed are the reasons Dominican voters have not embraced available minor party alternatives. Explained as well are the two ways Dominican literature treats party system longevity.

From an analysis of recent empirical research in the Dominican Republic, this article addresses the ways in which racism underpins elements of governance, and explores organisational and individual responses to racialised discrimination initiated by the state. The context is timely, given the steady rise in reported racist and violent attacks against people presumed to be of Haitian origin in the Dominican Republic over the past five years. The government has intensified formal military and police round-ups of migrants and settlers suspected to be of Haitian origin, and this article assesses the group and individual responses to these state-led actions, analysing formal and informal interventions, their evolution, maintenance, and impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the political career of former president Joaquín Balaguer in the context of the society of the Dominican Republic past and present. Emergence and development of authoritarianism in Latin America and the Caribbean region; Role of the U.S. government in the presidency of Balaguer; Features of Balaguer as a populist ruler and modernizer of the Dominican Republic.

Focuses on the Catholic Church and political mediation in the Dominican Republic during the 1980s and 1990s. Information on the democratic transition, economic policies and social change in the country; Influence of the Catholic Church in the Tripartite Dialogue; Role of the Catholic Church in the general elections of 1986 and 1994.

Discusses the chaotic elections in the Dominican Republic since 1978. Elections for president, congress and municipal; Charges of fraud against President Joaquin Balaguer by challenger Jose Francisco Pena Gomerz in the 1994 presidential elections; Political and institutional bases for crisis-ridden elections; Overview of the 1994 presidential elections.

Compares the democratic development in the Dominican Republican and Ecuador. Political history of both countries marked by an extreme disorganization of civil society; Conservatives' elites' domination of exclusionary political regimes that went largely unchallenged by suppressed and demobilized popular sectors.

Discusses baseball's cultural and ideological role in the Dominican Republic. Early phase of baseball imperialism; American domination of Dominican baseball; Baseball as political-cultural ideology.

Many English people were surprised to discover that the new Prime Minister of Jamaica is of Lebanese origin. When they learn that the President of Colombia and the Vice President of the Dominican Republic are also of Levantine stock, they demand how it is that these people arrived in the Caribbean and why their presence has received so little attention from historians and social scientists. Why did these people leave their native land? Which sections of the population left? How were they received in their new homeland? What has been their subsequent history? By answering these questions, an attempt is made to account for the striking contrast between the situation of the Levantines in the Dominican Republic, who have frequently married Dominicans of other ethnic origins and have become deeply involved in the social and political life of the country, and those who have tended to marry within their own ethnic group and have generally steered clear of political involvement. A consideration of the Levantines in the Caribbean also raises the question of why small ethnic minorities frequently become successful entrepreneurs.

The revolution of April 1965 and the subsequent landing of the U.S. military forces focused an enormous amount of worldwide attention on the Dominican Republic. The frequently chaotic revolution, which quickly became a civil war, was made still more confusing by reports which at one and the same time referred to one side as the "rebels" or "constitutionalists" and to the other as the "loyalists" or "anti-constitutionalists." As the events of Dominican revolt, civil war and U.S. intervention became disentangled, however, it became clear that the issue of "the constitution" and "constitutionalism" and the principles and forces of which these terms were symbols were perhaps even more important than any of the personalities or groups involved. Because many of the major conflicts seemed to revolve around questions of "constitutionalism," a comparison and analysis of the constitutions of 1962 and 1963 may help unravel the perplexing tangle of factors which led to revolution and civil war. As symbols, the constitutions should be compared and analyzed within their broader societal context. The 1965 revolution must not be seen as simply a conflict among principals who disputed the way in which the formal structure of government should be organized or who disagreed as to the legal or "constitutional" set of ruling principles — the "rules of the game."

The article discusses the Dominican Republic, focusing on controversies over issues related to birth registration and nationality. A Dominican birth certificate has become the standard evidence of nationality for children who are born in the country. This is said to be common practice in Latin America. A birth certificate is necessary to apply for an identity card or a passport, and is intended to provide some protection against human trafficking or child labor. Problems involving Haitian migrants whose children are born in the Dominican Republic are addressed.

Reports on a court ruling in the Dominican Republic which gave several military officers a guilty verdict for the murder of Orlando Martinez, a journalist and writer in the `El Nacional' newspaper. Details on the human rights abuses and government corruption reported by the journalist in the 1970s; Political and social conditions of Dominican Republic; Efforts of human rights groups to convict the perpetrators.

Reports on developments related to elections in the Dominican Republic, United States and Mexico.

Reports on the May 16, 1990, general elections in the Dominican Republic. Candidates; Factors affecting the elections.

Reports on the third term won by Dominican Prime Minister Eugenia Charles in parliamentary elections held May 28, 1990.