Political Conflict and Constitutional Change in Puerto Rico, 1898-1952

The analysis of the constitutional development of Puerto Rico has been dominated by two major perspectives: political gradualism and classical colonialism. Gradualist analysis suggests that the constitutional development of Puerto Rico followed a pattern of gradual progression toward the goal of increasing self-government. A variant of this approach views the creation of particular constitutional laws for Puerto Rico as the result of United States experimentation in colonial policy-making. The classical colonialism approach presents the Puerto Rican constitutional laws as instruments of economic and military exploitation of Puerto Rico. Both approaches oversimplify the social complexity of those involved in the creation of constitutional laws. This book provides an alternative view which recognizes the role of social conflicts and social contradictions in the development of the constitutional laws of Puerto Rico.