Paper due

Hello! I'm doing a minor thesis in political science at V?xj? university about the democratization process in the Dominican republic and I have a question that I desperately need the answer to: Is it true that 1986 was the first time in the Dominican republic that there were general elections for presidency and for parliament?

Thank you for a fast answer!

Good Heavens, NO!!

There have been elections since the mid 19th Century. There is a long line of elected officials and Congresses.

Independence came in 1844, and except for a short period in the 1960s and 8 years between 1916 and 1924, the country has always elected its officials, although perhaps not like it is done in Europe.

The 1986 election was the first time that the socialist-leaning PRD party was elected since it was thrown out of office in 1963 in a military takeover. From 1966 until 1986 there were elections every 4 years.

Nowadays, we are having elections every two years: 2000/2004 are Presidential elections, and 2002 and 2006 will be Municipal and Congressional elections--unless they change things again...

Hope this helps

One correction: The PRD was elected for the 2nd time to the presidency in 1978 and a third in 1982. The PRD left office in 1986 after losing to the PRSC, with Joaquin Balaguer as the PRSC candidate. Balaguer had been President under the dictator Trujillo (responsible for the murders of many Dominicans and Haitians), was quasi-democratically elected in the late 60s (12 years of killing Dominicans that did not agree w/ his agenda), lost in the 1978 election, won again in 1986, and stole the elections of 1990 and 1994 (both actually won by the PRD/Jose Fransisco Pena Gomez).