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Under the Constitution of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico designates itself with the term Commonwealth and Puerto Ricans have a degree of administrative autonomy similar to citizens of a U.S. state and like the States, it has a republican form of government, organized pursuant to a constitution adopted by its people, and a bill of rights.
Puerto Rico's governor, who is the head of government, and the members of the legislature are elected every four years by popular vote. Puerto Rico's legislature is a bicameral body consisting of a Senate and a House. The members of the judicial branch are appointed by the Governor with the approval of the Senate to serve until they reach age 70.
On November 5, 2024, Puerto Rico held a non-binding referendum alongside the 2024 Puerto Rican general election and the 2024 United States elections. This was the seventh referendum held on the long-standing, ongoing debate about the political status of Puerto Rico, with the previous one having taken place in 2020.
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 ...
The Puerto Rico Commonwealth Bill quickly followed suit, which paved the way for a Puerto Rican constitution, however this was met with fierce opposition from Puerto Rican nationalists, two of whom eventually tried to assassinate President Truman. A subsequent referendum in 1951 approved commonwealth status for Puerto Rico, and in 1952 a new ...
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territorial possession of the United States acquired in 1898 following the Spanish–American War, making it "the oldest colony in the modern world". [1] [a] As of 2023, the population of Puerto Rico is 3.2 million, around half the average state population and higher than that of 19 U.S. states.
On October 17, 2006, Pedro Rosselló, a former governor of Puerto Rico, and the Unfinished Business of American Democracy Committee on behalf of the approximately four million U.S. citizens residing in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, presented a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States ...
Three main alternatives are generally presented to Puerto Rican voters during Puerto Rico political status referendums: full independence, maintenance or enhancement of the current commonwealth status, and full statehood into the American Union. The exact expectations for each of these status formulas are a matter of debate by a given position ...