The Dominican Republic: A Caribbean Crucible

196 Pages·1992·6.492 MB·English

by  Howard J. Wiarda, Michael J. Kryzanek

SECOND EDITION
THE
DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC
A Caribbean Crucible
Howard J. Wiarda
and Michael J. Kryzanek
West view Profiles/Nations of Contemporary Latin America
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THE
DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC
WESTVIEW PROFILES • NATIONS OF
CONTEMPORARY LATIN AMERICA
Ronald Schneider, Series Editor
■\The Dominican Republic: A Caribbean Crucible,
Second Edition, Howard ]. Wiarda and Michael J. Kryzanek
Bolivia: Land of Struggle, Waltraud Queiser Morales
■\Nicaragua: The Land of Sandino,
Third Edition, Thomas W. Walker
Venezuela: Tarnished Democracy, Daniel C. Hellinger
Paraguay: The Personalist Legacy,
Riordan Roett and Richard Scott Sacks
Haiti: The Breached Citadel, Patrick Bellegarde-Smith
I
•[Cuba: Dilemmas of a Revolution,
Second Edition, Juan M. del Aguila
Uruguay: Democracy at the Crossroads, Martin Weinstein
Ecuador: An Andean Enigma, David W Schodt
Mexico: Paradoxes of Stability and Change,
Second Edition, Daniel Levy and Gabriel Szekely
■fAvailable in hardcover and paperback
THE
DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC
A Caribbean Crucible
SECOND EDITION
Howard J. Wiarda
and Michael J. Kryzanek
Westview Press
BOULDER • SAN FRANCISCO • OXFORD
Westview Profiles/Nations of Contemporary Latin America
The authors thank Kahn Travel Communications for providing six of the photos for the
second edition.
Jacket/paperback cover photos: top left—Cove in the Samaria Bay region {courtesy of Judy
Pinter); top right—Young Dominican baseball players {courtesy of the Dominican Republic
Tourism Promotion Council); bottom—Typical house in Puerto Plata {courtesy of the Dominican
Republic Tourism Promotion Council)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Copyright © 1982, 1992 by Westview Press, Inc.
Published in 1992 in the United States of America by Westview Press, Inc., 5500 Central
Avenue, Boulder, Colorado 80301-2877, and in the United Kingdom by Westview Press, 36
Lonsdale Road, Summertown, Oxford 0X2 7EW
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wiarda, Howard J., 1939-
The Dominican Republic, a Caribbean crucible / Howard J. Wiarda
and Michael J. Kryzanek.
p. cm. — (Westview profiles. Nations of contemporary Latin
America)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-8133-8235-1 — ISBN 0-8133-8236-X (pbk.)
1. Dominican Republic. 1. Kryzanek, Michael J. 11. Title.
III. Series.
F1934.W49 1992
972.93—dc20 92-14476
CIP
Printed and bound in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements
of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984.
10 987654321
For our parents,
John and the late Cornelia Wiarda
and
Mary and the late Edward Kryzanek,
in loving appreciation
for all the help along the way
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Contents
List of Tables and Illustrations xi
Foreword xiii
Preface xvii
List of Acronyms'and Abbreviations xix
1 Introduction 1
2 The Land, the People, the Culture 5
The Land, 5
Life in the Dominican City, 10
The Dominican People and Their Culture, 15
3 The Pattern of Historical Development 25
The Colonial Era, 25
The Independence Era, 28
The Trujillo Era, 34
4 Contemporary Dominican History 39
After Trujillo, 39
Democracy and Revolution, 41
The Unfinished Revolution, 46
5 Social Structure and Social Groups 57
Social Structure, 57
Urban and Rural Poverty, 59
The Emerging Middle Class: Agent of Change? 63
Class and Class Conflict, 66
. Group Dynamics and the Dominican Social
System, 69
vii
CONTENTS
Vlll
6 The Economy 79
From Politics to Political Economy, 79
The Export Sector: The Old and the New, 81
The Impact of Trade Imbalances: Debt and
Devaluation, 83
Roadblocks to a Sound Economy: Inflation and
Unemployment, 84
Government Programs to Strengthen the
Economy, 86
The Future of the Dominican Economy, 93
7 Political Institutions and Processes 95
The Tension of Competing Political
Philosophies, 95
The Rules of the Game, 100
The Character of Leadership, 102
The Contest for Power, 105
The Decisionmaking Process, 108
8 Public Policy and Policymaking 113
The Public Policy Environment, 113
Agricultural Versus Industrial Development, 114
The Place of Social Welfare Programs in a
Modernizing Economy, 118
Austerity and the Quality of Economic Growth, 120
Four Policies: Population, Energy, Education,
and Taxation, 122
Public Policy and the Future of Dominican
Development, 130
9 The Dominican Republic in the
International Arena ^ 133
Dominican-U.S. Relations, 133
The Dominican Republic's Relations with
Its Closest Neighbors, 138
The Dominican Republic in Relation to the
Caribbean and the World, 142
Recent Trends in Dominican Foreign Policy, 144