Re-Constituting Puerto Rico

Abstract:     
The debate about the Puerto Rican Constituent Assembly has failed to ask for the meaning of the concept of constituent power in the context of the juridical apparatus that regulates the relationship between the island and the United States. This article seeks to show that the need to convene a constituent assembly evidences the presence of a grave injustice in that relationship, an injustice that is not susceptible of being corrected through ordinary juridical means. If successful, the Constituent Assembly would make possible, for the first time in Puerto Rican history, a constitutional order based on the constituent power of the people.

Note: Downloadable document is in Spanish.

Keywords: asamblea constituyente, Puerto Rico, asamblea constitucional de status, poder constituyente, constituent power, Estado Libre Asociado, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

Accepted Paper Series