Constitution Day (Dominican Republic) – November 11, 2026

History of Constitution Day (Dominican Republic)

For this Caribbean nation known as Santo Domingo until the 20th century, 1844 was a pivotal year. The country declared its independence from Haiti in February, and on November 6, the first constitution was adopted in San Cristóbal, a village near the capital Santo Domingo. The constitution touted a presidential system of government with many liberal characteristics and was modeled after the United States constitution.

A year later, the Dominican constitution was modified to suit an authoritarian dictator’s reign. The tyrannical Rafael Trujillo regularly updated the constitution to serve his purposes. As a result, the Dominican Republic has had 39 constitutions. The document was again altered following Trujillo’s passing in 1961 to allow elections and the transfer of authority to an interim Council of State. Despite the amendments, however, the 1962 constitution contained many of the same laws as Trujillo’s, leading to its unpopularity.

A new and significantly more liberal constitution was drafted by Juan Bosch’s democratically elected, social-democratic administration in 1964. The constitution of 1966 included a broad list of fundamental rights and strengthened the legislature. The executive was also granted a wide range of authority, including emergency powers. The Dominicans drafted yet another constitution while Joaquin Balaguer and his party were in control. In 1965, Bosch and his supporters led a revolution in the name of constitutionalism to restore the liberal 1963 constitution. Subsequent amendments were made in 1994 and 2002.