Over the past several decades, the Dominican Republic hasexperienced striking political stagnation in spite of dramaticsocioeconomic transformations. In this work, Jonathan Hartlynoffers a new explanation for the country's political evolution,based on a broad comparative perspective. Hartlyn rejects cultural explanations unduly focused onlegacies from the Spanish colonial era and structuralexplanations excessively centered on the lack of nationalautonomy. Instead, he highlights the independent impact ofpolitical and institutional factors and historical legacies,while also considering changes in Dominican society and theinfluence of the United States and other international forces. In particular, Hartlyn examines how the Dominican Republic'stragic nineteenth-century history established a legacy ofneopatrimonialism, a form of rule that found extreme expressionin the brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo and has continued to shapepolitics down to the present. By examining economic policymakingand often conflictual elections, Hartlyn also analyzes the missedopportunity for democracy during the rule of the DominicanRevolutionary Party and the democratic tensions of theadministrations of Joaquin Balaguer.