(Americasquarterly 2014). Policy recommendations I have include anti-discrimination laws, mandatory Haitian-Dominican Republic education, and reversing past laws that are meant to hold people of Haitian (or any other country) decent back.
Background:
The Dominican Republic has been an electoral democracy since 1978.
According to Peter H. Smith, a democratic form of government is “when national leaders acquired or held office as a result of free and fair elections…or when there was open competition for support among a substantial portion of the adult population” (Smith 2012). In other words, the general adult population should be able to vote freely for whom they want, and the winner of the election should be named president. A democracy was finally made possible for the Dominican Republic due to the end of the thirty year dictatorship of Trujillo, aid from the United States, and an end to militaristic control. The country has been able to keep a strong grip on the democratic government, but there are definitely obstacles that keep the democracy from …show more content…
progressing. To start off, it is hard to imagine how Dominican Republic can be viewed as a total electoral democracy with a large portion of the population not having basic civil rights. According to Freedomhouse.org, “Haitians face persistent systematic discrimination in political and social life, and do not have full political rights. Thus, Dominicans of Haitian descent have been denied full participation in national life such as attending universities, obtaining legal employment or a marriage license” (Freedomhouse 2014). Dominican political leaders have gone through great measures to strip the people of Haitian decent of citizenship and put them into a category of lesser status. The reason for this is a long time history of hatred/resentment against Haiti. Economist.com states “Relations on Hispaniola have been tense ever since Haiti occupied the DR in 1821-44” (Economist 2014). The historical past between the two countries is rocky of course, but why is there still so much hatred today, to a point where people that have lived on Dominican soil their entire lives, are now in a detrimental political state? Not only are they stripped of their citizenship of the Dominican Republic, but they are also not citizens of Haiti. This leaves these people in a state of political limbo, having no political protections anywhere. There is no way for the Haitians to get around this issue since the authorities are going to extreme measures to make sure of it. “Compounding this injustice, the court ordered the authorities to comb through birth records, back to 1929, to weed out ethnic Haitians no longer entitled to citizenship. Tens of thousands will be left in legal limbo, including those who have never set foot in Haiti and speak no Creole, Haiti’s main language” (Washingtonpost 2014). The issue has only progressed over the years and unless something is done about it, the circumstances for Haitians will only get worse. The Washingtonpost.org states, “The implications of the court’s xenophobic ruling are disastrous. Ethnic Haitians—as well as the Dominican-born children of immigrants from Europe, China and elsewhere—may no longer be entitled to subsidized tuition, public health insurance or other benefits” (Washingtonpost 2014). Having a large portion of the population banned from normally accepted Dominican Republic rights will lead to numerous issues within the country that will ultimately affect democracy.
Impact on Democracy:
It is no surprise that intense discrimination within a country regarding race, ethnicity, gender, etc. will cause major inequalities. Inequalities in society can severely hinder development and democracy within a country. To strip a large portion of the population of civil rights and freedoms will inherently lead to problems with consolidating democracy for this reason. With Haitians not having any protection in the judicial system, access to public health insurance, adequate education, and other rights/privileges (that they should be entitled to since they were once citizens of the country), the Dominican Republic will experience a decline in several areas such as education, crime, healthcare, and economic GDP. The country will have a hard time progressing with setbacks in these areas. It is unlikely that the country will be able to remain a democracy if policies like this are being implemented. Allyn Gaestel from Theguardian.com states, “the ruling could worsen poverty among those affected, because without an identity card people are relegated to informal jobs and have little bargaining power in relations with employers” (Gaestel 2014). Gaestel also refers to a man named Alejandro Pierre, who has been trying to get a national ID card for six years now. His mother was born in the Dominican Republic, but his father was born in Haiti and later moved to the Dominican. The workers insist that he must go to Haiti and get a passport. He has never been to Haiti but tries this anyway, and to no surprise the Haitian workers deny him and say that he is a Dominican (Gaestel 2014). The national ID card is essential because it “is necessary for myriad bureaucratic tasks, including marriage, registering children, opening a bank account and entering public universities” (Gaestel 2014). These tasks are very important in order to live in a fair democracy. Many people are left with little choices and lack or opportunity/freedom. Denying someone citizen rights for having Haitian decent is not democratic, and policies like this puts the democracy of the Dominican Republic in great danger.
Pre-existing Policies:
Haitians, as stated before, have endured several years of discrimination and hatred in the Dominican Republic.
After Haiti tried to annex Santo Domingo in 1822, tensions arose that still last today (BBCNews). According to Dr. Ernesto Sagas:
This traditional view of Haitian-Dominican relations was promoted by the 31-year-long dictatorship of Rafael L. Trujillo. It stressed the differences between Haitians and Dominicans, rather than their points in common. A whole generation of Dominican leaders, as well as common folk, was raised under this ideology. As a result, even today most Dominicans share these distorted historical myths (Sagas
1994).
So while Trujillo was in power, he was certain to make a point to emphasize the historical negative relations between the two countries, causing hatred and discrimination. The people of both countries share a small amount of land (in relation to other countries) and should take advantage of their similarities and be able to work together. Because there have been many years of this type of thinking taking place, any policy regarding Haitians in the Dominican Republic prevent democratic consolidation. Any policies in place at the time are hurting people of Haitian descent and there is little, if anything, being done to help them.
Policy Recommendations: There are many policy changes that need to happen in the Dominican Republic to address the many issues at hand. One issue can lead to many more problems, so when deciding on policies, the big picture must be taken into consideration. The first policy that should be in place is anti-discrimination laws regarding political rights and civil liberties in the Dominican Republic. There should be specific laws set to protect people born in the Dominican Republic with Haitian (or any other country) decent. These laws will deal with citizenship, voting rights, healthcare, education, and any other civil liberties/political rights that free Dominican citizens have today. I think that one of these laws should declare that anyone born in the Dominican Republic is a citizen of the country and they are entitled to certain rights because of that. Another policy that I think should be put in place is better education regarding the history between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. For generations people have focused on the negatives, instead of seeing the similarities in the two countries. The hatred will never stop if the past cannot be explained, understood, and forgiven. The last policy put in place should be one that will remove any previous legislature that hinders people from becoming a citizen (with full rights) of the Dominican Republic due to their family origins. The purpose of this will be so that the government cannot refer to any previous policies in order to discriminate against people of Haitian decent. All of these polices will help to decrease the amount of inequalities in the country, therefore leading to economic development which will help secure the democracy.