Dominican Party System Continuity amid Regional Transformations: Economic Policy,Clientelism, and Migration Flows |
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| Authors: | Jana Morgan Jonathan Hartlyn Rosario Espinal |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Assistant professor of political science and a research fellow in the Center for the Study of Social Justice at the University of Tennessee. janamorgan@utk.edu;2. Kenneth J. Reckford Professor of Political Science and senior associate dean for social sciences and international programs at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. hartlyn@unc.edu;3. Professor of sociology at Temple University. rosario.espinal@temple.edu |
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| Abstract: | In the 1980s and 1990s, economic crisis produced ideological convergence in many Latin American party systems. Much scholarship explores how this convergence frequently provoked system change that enabled renewed ideological differentiation, but little research examines instances where convergence persisted without destabilizing the system. Through comparative historical analysis of Dominican continuity amid regional change, this study identifies factors that sustain or challenge party systems. Then, through analysis of Americas Barometer surveys, it assesses the causal mechanisms through which these factors shape support for the traditional Dominican parties. The findings demonstrate that maintaining programmatic and clientelist linkages facilitates continuity. In addition, the article argues that the threats political outsiders pose to existing party systems are constrained when people excluded from the system are divided and demobilized. In the Dominican case, Haitian immigration divides the popular sector while Dominicans abroad sustain ties to the parties, with both migration flows facilitating party system continuity. |
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