These gaps not only imply a vast separation between the social classes, hut also mean perhaps inevitably the potential for class conflict. With little in common and so much distance between them, the upper and lower classes both know that one day there will be a war between them. Conclusion Power in the Dominican Republic remains unbalanced and is concentrated in the hands of the few, not the many, which is clear in both the class, social structure and the power of the social and interest groups. The inequality of wealth and political strength persists. Even today the most important groups in internal Dominican politics are the armed forces, economic elite, and the Americans.
Secondary importance is the church, students and the organized labor movement.
The other groups are the urban slum dwellers, and the peasants. The poverty of most of the population is to the visitor the single most striking and immediate feature of the Dominican Republic. Nevertheless, the poverty is stark, real and plainly visible to all who care to see. To the poor urban dwellers, a normal day includes the usually fruitless search for employment, and the continuous struggle to manage an insecure household with a shortage of basic food and a climate of despair and rising violence. Although. the foundation for a more pluralistic and democratic system in the Dominican Republic have been laid, the process of democratization is still in its early stages and remains incomplete.