Clientelistic stability and institutional fragility : the political system in the Dominican Republic (1978-2010)

Abstract

Since 1978, with the disappearance of the historical caudillos (Joaquín Balaguer, Juan Bosch, and José Francisco Peña Gómez), institutional fragility and electoral power have been the keys to the survival of the political party system in the Dominican Republic. The current parties are more stable but not more institutionalized. The authoritarianism that characterized the Dominican political system from the 1960s until the end of the twentieth century relied for its stability not just on power and repression but on political control through clientelism and prebendalism. These mechanisms served not only as an instrument of social control but also as a strong basis for legitimacy.