Puerto Rico’s Constitutional Paradox

Jorge M Farinacci-Fernós is Associate Professor at the School of Law, Inter American University of Puerto Rico.

• 1. Concepts and Structure I. Overview II. Constitutional Components III. Conceptual Factors IV. Integrated Analytical Structure 2. Puerto Rico before 1952 I. A History of Subordination and Authoritarian Antecedents: Spanish Colonialism and Early US Domination II. Puerto Rico’s Territorial Status Prior to 1952 III. The Unfulfilled Potential of Puerto Rico’s Quest for Social Justice 3. The Constitutional Creation Process I. In the Shadow of Colonialism II. Democratic Mechanisms and Majoritarian Preferences III. An Exercise in, Sometimes, Radical Politics 4. The 1952 Constitution (Structure) I. A Colonial ConstitutionII. The Direct Impact of Colonialism on the Political Structure and Amendment Mechanisms III. Democratic Deficits: The Political Structure of the 1952 Constitution IV. Amendment: Substantive and Procedural Limitations 5. The 1952 Constitution (Substance) I. A Substantive, Progressive, and Social Constitution II. Human Dignity, Equality, and Discrimination III. Other Political Rights IV. Criminal Procedure GuaranteesV. Socioeconomic Rights VI. Section 19 VII. Other Substantive Policy Provisions VIII. Congressional Anti-socialist Veto and Puerto Rican Colonial Acceptance 6. Puerto Rico under the 1952 Constitution I. Introduction II. A History of Judicial Underenforcement and Nominal Lip Service III. The Illusion of Decolonisation, Autonomy, and Sort-of Equal Treatment IV. Democratic Crisis: The New Two-party System, Political Repression, and Armed Struggle 7. Recent Developments Regarding the Puerto Rican Constitutional Project I. Colonialism in the Twenty-first Century II. The 1952 Constitution’s Internal Democratic Blind Spots Finally Emerge III. The Constitution, Class Struggle, and Police Power During the Pandemic IV. Final Thoughts