The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico () is an unincorporated territory of the United States. As such Puerto Rico is neither a sovereign nation nor a U.S. state.
The U.S. Constitution does not apply directly or uniformly in U.S. territories in the same way it does in the U.S. states. As a territory, Puerto Rico enjoys various "fundamental rights" of U.S. citizenship, but lacks certain others. For instance, in contrast to U.S. states, Puerto Rico residents cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, nor can they elect their own senators and representatives to the U.S. Congress. On the other hand, and in contrast to U.S. states, only some residents of Puerto Rico are subject to federal income taxes. The political status of the archipelago and island thus illustrates how different Puerto Rico is, politically, from sovereign nations and from U.S. states.
The status of the island is the result of various political activities within both the United States and Puerto Rican governments. The United Nations removed it from the list of non-self-governing territories in 1953, but it remains subject to the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution. According to the Insular Cases, Puerto Rico is "a territory appurtenant and belonging to the United States, but not a part of the United States within the revenue clauses of the Constitution".Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244, 287 (1901); Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298 (1922).
American and Puerto Rican political activities regarding the status question have revolved around three sets of initiatives: presidential executive orders, bills in the U.S. Congress, and referendums held in Puerto Rico. U.S. Presidents have issued three executive orders on the subject, and Congress has considered four major bills on Puerto Rico's political status. In the 21st century, four status referendums have been held in the archipelago and island to determine the desired political status of Puerto Rico in relation to the United States. Each one has favored statehood, or to become a state of the Union. However, none has been binding on U.S. Congress, which last significant effort to resolve the political status took place through the Puerto Rico Status Act in 2022. The bill passed the U.S. House but was not considered by the U.S. Senate.
Internationally, several organizations have called for the U.S. government to expedite the process to allow the self-determination of Puerto Rico while considering Puerto Rico a Caribbean nation with its own national identity.2011-06-20. Special Committee on Decolonization Calls on United States, in Consensus Text, to Speed up Process Allowing Puerto Rico to Exercise Self-Determination: Nearly 25 Petitioners Underscore Gravity of Situation on Island, Buckling Under Economic Strain; Vigorous Opposition to Death Penalty Also Expressed. June 20, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2012.2009-06-15. Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Self-determination Process for Puerto Rico: Members Hear Petitioners Speak up for Independence, Statehood, Free Association. June 15, 2009. Retrieved Sept 3, 2010.2006-06-13. Special Committee on Decolonization Approves Text Calling on United States to Expedite Puerto Rican Self-determination Process: Draft Resolution Urges Probe of Pro-Independence Leader's Killing, Human Rights Abuses; Calls for Clean-up, Decontamination of Vieques. June 13, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2009. For instance, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has called for the United States "to allow the Puerto Rican people to take decisions in a sovereign manner, and to address their urgent economic and social needs, including unemployment, marginalization, insolvency and poverty."
Background The United States acquired the islands of Puerto Rico in 1898 after the Spanish–American War, and the archipelago has been under U.S. sovereignty since. In 1950, Congress enacted the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950 or legislation (P.L. 81-600), authorizing Puerto Rico to hold a constitutional convention and, in 1952, the people of Puerto Rico ratified a constitution establishing a republican form of government for the island. After being approved by Congress and the President in July 1952 and thus given force under federal law (P.L. 82-447), the new constitution went into effect on July 25, 1952.
Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917.One Hundred Years of Solitude: Puerto Rico's American Century. by Juan R. Torruella. In Foreign in a Domestic Sense: Puerto Rico, The American Expansion, and the Constitution. Ed. by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall. 2001. Duke University Press. p. 248.Jones-Shafroth Act After the promulgation of the Commonwealth constitution in 1952, the government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico presented its voters with plebiscites regarding the political status of its body politic in 1967, 1993, and 1998. An additional referendum held in 1991 sought to amend the relationship through an amendment to the Puerto Rican constitution. Each time, the results favored retaining the current status over the possible independence of Puerto Rico and statehood alternatives.
As a result of Puerto Rico's status as a U.S. territory, the citizens of Puerto Rico do not have any voting representation in the U.S. Federal government. Instead of outright representation through Senators and House Representatives, Puerto Rico has one non-voting Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives. Furthermore, Puerto Rico is not represented in the Electoral College, and thus U.S. citizens resident there are unable to vote in U.S. presidential elections. Citizens of Puerto Rico can vote in the Republican and Democratic primary elections.
Although Puerto Rico presently has a certain amount of local autonomy, according to the U.S. Constitution ultimate governance of the island is retained by both the U.S. Congress and President. El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. December 14, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011..United States v. Sanchez , 992 F.2D 1143 (11th Cir. 1993) Thus, results of plebiscites, whether or not authorized by Congress, while they reflect public sentiment, and thus have some influence, can be ignored by Congress. Ultimately, the results of Puerto Rican plebiscites are opinions, although congressional resolutions have expressed support for following the will of the Puerto Rican people. (From a spource describing itself as, "")
Terminology The English term "commonwealth" has been used for a number of different types of entities: In the style (formal name) for four states of the United States (Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) and one other unincorporated, organized U.S. territory (the Northern Mariana Islands) In the style of various independent countries: the Commonwealth of Australia or the Commonwealth of The Bahamas For the international organizations like the Commonwealth of Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States (formerly parts of the Soviet Union) In the style of the Philippines before gaining its independence from the United States in 1947 and becoming a republic, prior to which the U.S. Supreme Court had declared it was an unincorporated territory of the United States.Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298, 305 (1922).
The definition of the term "commonwealth" as per current U.S. State Department policy (as codified in the department's Foreign Affairs Manual) reads: "The term 'Commonwealth' does not describe or provide for any specific political status or relationship. It has, for example, been applied to both states and territories. When used in connection with areas under U.S. sovereignty that are not states, the term broadly describes an area that is self-governing under a constitution of its adoption and whose right of self-government will not be unilaterally withdrawn by Congress."
Juan R. Torruella, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (which has jurisdiction over the Federal Court for the District of Puerto Rico), states that the use of the term "commonwealth" is a label that "can deceive and obscure the true nature of things". He states that Puerto Rico is obviously not a state, and that "neither Puerto Rico's status nor its relationship with the U.S. supports any legitimate claim that a British type of 'commonwealth' exists between Puerto Rico and the United States".One Hundred Years of Solitude: Puerto Rico's American Century. by Juan R. Torruella. In, Foreign in a Domestic Sense: Puerto Rico, The American Expansion, and the Constitution. Ed. by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall. 2001. Duke University Press. p. 243.
Then U.S. Secretary of the Interior Oscar L. Chapman, under whose Department resided responsibility of Puerto Rican affairs, clarified the new commonwealth label by stating, "The bill (to permit Puerto Rico to write its own constitution) merely authorizes the people of Puerto Rico to adopt their own constitution and to organize a local government. ... The bill under consideration would not change Puerto Rico's political, social, and economic relationship to the United States.""Let Puerto Rico Decide How to end its Colony Status: True Nationhood Stands on the Pillar of Independence." Rosalinda de Jesus. The Allentown Morning Call. Republished by The Puerto Rico Herald. July 21, 2002. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
The Insular Cases It has been said that "any inquiry into Puerto Rico's status must begin with the Constitution of the United States, as well as various Supreme Court and lower court decisions".Juan R. Torruella, "One Hundred Years of Solitude: Puerto Rico's American Century". In Foreign in a Domestic Sense: Puerto Rico, The American Expansion, and the Constitution. Ed. by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall. 2001. Duke University Press. p. 242.
Almost immediately after Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States, Puerto Rico's political status was defined by a series of landmark decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court in what are collectively known as The Insular Cases. From 1901 to 1905, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution extended ex proprio vigore to the territories. However, the Court in these cases also established the doctrine of territorial incorporation. Under the same, the Constitution only applied fully in incorporated territories such as Alaska and Hawaii, whereas it only applied partially in the new unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. Although other cases followed, strictly speaking the Insular Cases are the original six opinions issued concerning acquired territories as a result of the Treaty of Paris (1898). The six cases were:Juan R. Torruella, "One Hundred Years of Solitude: Puerto Rico's American Century". In Foreign in a Domestic Sense: Puerto Rico, The American Expansion, and the Constitution. Ed. by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall. 2001. Duke University Press. p. 248.
Other authorities, such as José Trías Monge, state that the list also includes these additional two cases: Dooley v. United States, 183 U.S. 151 (1901) Fourteen Diamond Rings v. United States, 183 U.S. 176 (1901)
The Supreme Court later made other rulings. For example Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298, 305 (1922), explained the distinction between an incorporated and a non-incorporated territory. Juan R. Torruella restated it this way, "an unincorporated territory is a territory as to which, when acquired by the United States, no clear intention was expressed that it would eventually be incorporated into the Union as a State".Juan R. Torruella. "One Hundred Years of Solitude: Puerto Rico's American Century". In Foreign in a Domestic Sense: Puerto Rico, The American Expansion, and the Constitution. Ed. by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall. 2001. Duke University Press. p. 243. In Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298, 305 (1922) at 304–312.