Editing Politics of Puerto Rico (section)

=== Implications of the current political status ===
{{Main|Implications of Puerto Rico's current political status}}
{{See also|Voting rights in Puerto Rico}}

Puerto Rico is an organized unincorporated U.S. territory which has been given internal self-governing powers{{efn|The number and breadth of these "internal self-governing powers" is a matter of debate}} which, taken together, are referred to as "[[Commonwealth (United States insular area)|Commonwealth]]" status. Puerto Rico has more latitude over its internal affairs than the U.S. territories of [[Guam]], the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], or [[American Samoa]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pitzer, Kurt.|title=Puerto Rico's Cordillera Central.|date=2013|publisher=Hunter Publishing|isbn=978-1-58843-796-9|location=West Palm Beach|oclc=881163053}}</ref>

Puerto Rico has approximately the same degree of authority over its internal affairs as an American [[U.S. state|state]]. However, it does not have the sovereignty that a state of the Union has, given that Puerto Rico is a possession of the United States and it is, thus, not protected by the US Constitution to the same degree that states are.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-17-4-c.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610210536/http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-17-4-c.html%23|url-status=dead|title=Constitutional Rights Foundation|archive-date=June 10, 2009|access-date=October 21, 2009}}</ref>

Some differences between Puerto Rico and a state of the American Union are:
* "Unlike [[US states|states]], and federally-recognized Native American reservations, [[Puerto Rico]] does not have a zone of reserved sovereignty that is beyond the reach of Congress in the latter's exercise of its territorial powers."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thomas.gov/ |title=House Report 110-597 - Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007 |publisher=Thomas.gov |access-date=2011-06-13 |archive-date=September 29, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929022433/http://www.thomas.gov/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> That is, Puerto Rico has no recourse to challenge unilateral actions by the United States government that affect citizens of Puerto Rico.
* Some residents of Puerto Rico are exempt from some aspects of the [[Internal Revenue Code]].<ref>See also: [[Taxation in Puerto Rico]] and [[Puerto Rico Tax and Customs Laws]]</ref>
* Puerto Rico has international representation in sports and some other culturally international events, similar to sovereign nations.
* Puerto Rico does not have the rights of a state as granted by the US constitution, because it is not a state. These include:
** Lack of voting representation in either House of the [[Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress]].
** Puerto Rico residents cannot vote in [[President of the United States|presidential elections]].

Despite the fact that the U.S. Federal Government holds ultimate sovereignty over all U.S. citizens and the territory of Puerto Rico, residents of Puerto Rico are without an effective voice in the Federal government. This is not because Puerto Rico residents do not have the right to vote, but rather because the territory itself does not have voting representation in the [[United States Congress]], nor is it represented in the [[United States Electoral College]]. Puerto Ricans do, however, play an indirect role in electing the [[President of the United States]], since both the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] and the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] hold primaries in Puerto Rico, giving Puerto Ricans a voice selecting each party's presidential nominee.

Both the [[Puerto Rican Independence Party]] and the [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive Party]] outright reject the status quo that permits disfranchisement. The remaining political organization, the [[Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico)|Popular Democratic Party]], is less active in its opposition of this case of disfranchisement but has officially stated that it favors fixing the remaining "deficits of democracy" that the [[Bill Clinton]] and [[George W. Bush]] Administrations have publicly recognized in writing through Presidential Task Force Reports.