It has thus come to pass that the
constitution, far from being revered as the immutable foundation of
government, has rather been regarded as the convenient means for the
president in office to exercise power. From 1844 to the present time
nineteen constitutions have been promulgated in Santo Domingo, one in
the year 1844, one each in 1858, 1859 and 1865, two in 1866 and one
each in 1868, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1887, 1896, 1907
and 1908.
This extraordinary number is due in part to the practice of not
enacting amendments to an existing constitution, but of promulgating
the amended instrument as a new constitution. On three of the
occasions here indicated a constitution was abrogated in order to
revive a prior one. No account is taken in the above computation of
the instances where a successful revolutionist in order to announce
his adherence to the then existing constitution promulgated the same
anew. Thus the constitution of 1896 was reestablished in 1903.
The Dominican constitutions have all been modeled on the general lines
of that of the United States, and have differed from each other only
in detail.
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