This book explains how the People of Puerto Rico managed to adopt a constitution whose content and process were both original and colonialist, participatory and undemocratic, as well as progressive and anticlimactic.It looks in detail at the rich contradictions of the Puerto Rican constitutional experience, focusing on the history and content of the 1952 Constitution. This constitution is the only constitutional document written by the Puerto Rican People themselves after more than 500 years of Spanish and US colonialism.By exploring Puerto Rico's unique history and constitutional experience the book shines a spotlight on key emerging themes of comparative constitutional studies in this area: state constitutionalism, the persistence of colonial relationships in the Caribbean, and the continued development of constitutionalism in Latin America.The book delves deep into the particular experience of Puerto Rican constitutionalism which combines elements of colonialism, democratic tensions, and progressive policies. It explains how these features converge in a constitutional project that has endured for 70 years and continues its contradictory development. It considers issues such as the island's colonial history, including its conflicting relationship with democratic values and the constant presence of social movements and their struggles.It also explores the content of the 1952 Constitution, focusing on its progressive substantive policy, particularly its rights provisions, its amendment procedures, and the governmental structure it set up.

1. Concepts and StructureI. OverviewII. Constitutional ComponentsIII. Conceptual FactorsIV. Integrated Analytical Structure2. Puerto Rico before 1952I. A History of Subordination and Authoritarian Antecedents: Spanish Colonialism and Early US DominationII. Puerto Rico's Territorial Status Prior to 1952III. The Unfulfilled Potential of Puerto Rico's Quest for Social Justice3. The Constitutional Creation ProcessI. In the Shadow of ColonialismII. Democratic Mechanisms and Majoritarian PreferencesIII. An Exercise in, Sometimes, Radical Politics4. The 1952 Constitution (Structure)I. A Colonial ConstitutionII. The Direct Impact of Colonialism on the Political Structure and Amendment MechanismsIII. Democratic Deficits: The Political Structure of the 1952 ConstitutionIV. Amendment: Substantive and Procedural Limitations5. The 1952 Constitution (Substance)I. A Substantive, Progressive, and Social ConstitutionII. Human Dignity, Equality, and DiscriminationIII. Other Political RightsIV. Criminal Procedure GuaranteesV. Socioeconomic RightsVI. Section 19VII. Other Substantive Policy ProvisionsVIII. Congressional Anti-socialist Veto and Puerto Rican Colonial Acceptance6. Puerto Rico under the 1952 ConstitutionI. IntroductionII. A History of Judicial Underenforcement and Nominal Lip ServiceIII. The Illusion of Decolonisation, Autonomy, and Sort-of Equal TreatmentIV. Democratic Crisis: The New Two-party System, Political Repression, and Armed Struggle7. Recent Developments Regarding the Puerto Rican Constitutional ProjectI. Colonialism in the Twenty-first CenturyII. The 1952 Constitution's Internal Democratic Blind Spots Finally EmergeIII. The Constitution, Class Struggle, and Police Power During the PandemicIV. Final Thoughts