The Government and Political System in Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy with national powers divided among independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The president (Leonel Fernandez Reyna), appoints the cabinet, executes laws passed by the legislative branch, and is commander in chief of the armed forces. The president and vice president (Rafael Alburquerque) run for office on the same ticket and are elected by direct vote for 4-year term. The Executive branch is represented by the president and his cabinet. Legislative power is exercised by a bicameral Congress – the Senate (32 members) and the House of Representatives (178 members). The judicial branch consists of a national judicial council which has the responsibility of appointing judges independently and separately from the political process.

Administratively, the country is divided into 31 provinces and the National District. The major parties are the conservative Social Christian Reformist party, organized by Joaquin Balaguer, the rival and social-democratic Dominican Revolutionary party, organized by Juan Bosch, and the centrist Dominican Liberation party.

The Dominican Republic currently enjoys a new constitution, which was ratified in 1994 and changed again during the tenure of the last President (2000-2004) and a stable democratic process that has been in place for that last 30 years.