But although the country has in form remained a republic and the title
of the chief of state has never been more pretentious than president
or protector, in fact there have been few years when the government
was not autocratic and the president an absolute monarch whose powers
were limited only by his own generous impulses or the fear of
alienating his more influential supporters. Dominican writers have
even referred to the constitution as a conventional lie.
The various Dominican presidents, as soon as securely in power, have
generally been careful to follow constitutional forms, in an effort to
deceive their followers and themselves into the belief that they were
acting in regular course as servants of the people. The successful
revolutionist was almost, always in haste to "legalize" his position
by an election. Most of the presidents, among them Heureaux, have been
great sticklers for form. Instead of moulding their wishes to conform
to the constitution, however, they would mould the constitution to
conform to their wishes, and repeatedly the first act of the
successful revolutionist has been to promulgate a new constitution in
accordance with his ideas.
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