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. Dominican Republic Government: .
The
Dominican Republic Currently enjoys a fairly 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 thirty years. The system and branches are in fact based on
the US model or structure of government
. The democratically represented government
is divided principally into three branches. Executive,
which is represented by the President and his cabinet - Legislative,
which is represented by a two house system of senators and deputies.
Judicial,
represented by a national judicial council ~ designed to separate politics
from the judicial appointment process. .
The President of the
country is democratically
elected and holds one term for four years. The constitution
ratified
in 1994 prohits re-election for consectutive periods, however the
latest changes made during the last adminsitration of Hipolito Mejia basically nullifies
this previous restriction, thus now allowing for more than one consectutive term. The President
of the country appoints a cabinet of ministers to handle certain
affairs
or direct certain government policies. The President is also the
offical
head of state and is commander in chief of the armed forces. The
President is elected via an election which is distinct and separate
from
elections for representatives of the legislature.
The democratically elected legislative
branch consists of the congress, which is split between the Senate and
Chamber of Deputies. A system almost identical to the US government
system.
. Senators are elected to a four year term
and there are 30 seats in the senate. One seat for each of the nation's
29 provinces, and the National District ~ which is in effect the 30Th
province.
. The members of the Chamber of Deputies are also elected to a four year term, and are elected based upon their representation of the population at large. Each member, in theory, represents a constituency of 50,000 people. Since there are currently 145 members of the chamber, that puts the general polulation of the country at about 7.2 million people. As the population changes with the next census, the number of deputies should increase or change to reflect the new population levels. The judicial branch at the national level, consists of a national judicial council. This National Judicial Council has the responsibility of appointing judges independently and separately from the political process. The system of law in the country is Civil Law and this system of an independent judiciary branch is based upon the system currently used in France. For more information on the courts and legal system, please see our other section covering this topic. .  Copyright 2005 Dominican Republic Page.com No paid advertising is accepted on this site. All information is believed to be accurate and correct as of the date written and or posted on-line. |
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