"It's just a piece of paper." Dr. Joaqu?n Balaguer
His ironic comments testify to the fact that the Dominican constitution is really a pretty worthless piece of crap. Oh it says all the right things, of course, except that few ever follow its dictums and good ol' Article 55 allows the President to rule by decree.
Way back when (1844 or '45) when the first one was written up, it was a document inspired by the French and American Revolutions and the ensueing intellectual movements of Romanticism and Nationalism. However, when it was first shown to General Santana, the leader of the Dominican military and de facto head of everything, he said that it was no good and he needed to see that the Consititution protected him from any reprisals after he was no longer the bossman. So Articles 209 and 210 were added (I think these are the articles, but I could be off a few numbers) and these exonerated the man for any and all misdeeds that occured curing his presidency!! Wouldn't Clinton just love this???
The 1966 version of the document was the longest-lived one in DR history, and it died in 1996 ( I think).
HB