The Journal of Public and International Affairs
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pp. 115-140
The Basis of Puerto Rico’s Constitutional Status: Colony, Compact, or ‘‘Federacy’’?
DAVID A. REZVANI examines the controversy surrounding Puerto Rico’s constitutional status and rejects both of the traditional views on this issue. Puerto Rico is neither an American colony nor are its powers legally safeguarded by its 1952 ‘‘compact’’ with the United States. Instead, mirroring the historic British dominions, unwritten constitutional rules defend Puerto Rico’s constitutional status, making it into a partially sovereign polity known as a ‘‘federacy.’’
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