Puerto Rico as the 51st state

[Arwon]

Amongst those examples, how typical is the relative power of 2 senators in the upper/more powerful house? Legitimately curious since you've been looking it up?

In Canberra we have 2 Senators out of 76 and 2 (soon 3) House of Representatives seats of 150 (soon 151). Brasilia has 3 of 81 Senators and 8 of 513 deputies in the Chamber of Deputies.

So proportionately, the other Western planned and purpose built capitals have a larger share of the legislature than DC would rightfully have.

Abuja and Islamabad are also planned cities and like the others are relatively small, and similarly represented. Abuja has 1 of 109 Senators and 2 of 360 in the House of Representatives in Nigeria. Islamabad has 4 of 104 Senators and 2 of 360 in the National Assembly.

Most of the other federal capitals are larger pre-existing cities at the centre of national life (Buenos Aires, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, Delhi) so less comparable in this way.

I'd assume DC would have either 2 senators and 1 house rep, or just the 1 in each house since there's no reason to assume the assignment of 2 senators to states would carry over to hypothetical territory representation.

Really while we're at it, the other territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, USVI, Mariana Islands) should get seats in each house too, though. Disenfranchisement of territory residents is pretty much a relic of the frontier era and early 20th century colonialism.

Looking at the populations there might need to be a Pacific and a Carribean electorate, or a Puerto Rico one and an Other Territories one, for Congress and Electoral College purposes. But the franchise is kind of important.

 

[onejayhawk]

That is the purpose of every federal capital district from Australian Capital Territory to the Brazilian and Mexican Distrito Federal to the National Capital Territory in India. Not just DC.

The governance structure is common or universal to countries with federal capital districts, as well. For instance section 125 of the Australian constitution says a new capital must be created within a federal territory, a minimum distance from Sydney and Melbourne, and other sections (I think 122) place territories under federal jurisdiction.

It doesn't follow in any other federation, however, that the residents of that district are denied the franchise.

That's a reasonable point. Though it is arguable that they still have the franchise, you probably have the stronger side.

That said, it defeats the purpose of removing them from a state if you create a new state. As has been suggested several times, it would be better to let the residential areas return to Maryland, the parent state. That would be fairly simple. There is also precedent, since it was already done in Virginia. For some reason the idea is a non-starter.

J

 

[Farm Boy]

No idea why when everybody was female dogging about Wyoming and Nebraska they are fine with your capital. I'm sorry, I'm writing this off to gamesmanship.

But it is really interesting to know that countries give that much relative (over) representation to thier capitals. Feels unAmerican. So I guess you're right on the feel feel gist here. I'd really much rather throw the citizens in D.C. through the existing state structure. I'd care less about the non-capital territories getting their reps, but then I'd roll them in and upgrade them to a state proper. Capital and state is bull, no first amongst states crap. They already get the National Cathedral, the most hallowed shrine in the Unknowns, the first amongst cemetaries, and the functioning highest engines of power.

Thank you for taking both the time both to look it up and to type it out for me.

 

[Arwon]

Look at it this way: we in the capitals have to put up with everyone else's terrible politicians giving our city a bad name.

 

[Farm Boy]

Well, I did say suffer for a reason!

Then again they're federal reps, so we do too.

 

[Traitorfish]

But nobody prohibits your representation in Congress as a result.

 

[Farm Boy]

You three already got me on that one. We're dithering on form, not prohibition.

 

[danjuno]

They already get the National Cathedral, the most hallowed shrine in the Unknowns, the first amongst cemetaries, and the functioning highest engines of power.

All of these things are controlled by politicians who aren't from and don't represent DC.

 

[onejayhawk]

The option of joining a state is a real one.

I would hazard to guess that the option of being absorbed into Maryland, to follow Maryland's laws and pay Maryland's taxes, would get voted down. None-the-less, the option will always be there.

J

 

[Kyriakos]

I suppose this has been addressed already, but how can PR join if the US has to make a viable border wall with only 10 billion dollares?

 

[danjuno]

Puerto Rico doesn't border Mexico, so it's not part of the area in question, nor would statehood change that.

Personally, tbh, I think Puerto Rico would be better off independent. Puerto Rican Nationalist would probably be provoked by statehood, since it would represent the loss of what autonomy they had.

 

[Traitorfish]

I suppose this has been addressed already, but how can PR join if the US has to make a viable border wall with only 10 billion dollares?

Puerto Rico is already party of the United States, it's just not a state.

 

[Farm Boy]

All of these things are controlled by politicians who aren't from and don't represent DC.

I getcha cattleman.

 

[onejayhawk]

Puerto Rico doesn't border Mexico, so it's not part of the area in question, nor would statehood change that.

Personally, tbh, I think Puerto Rico would be better off independent. Puerto Rican Nationalist would probably be provoked by statehood, since it would represent the loss of what autonomy they had.

I think Puerto Ricans would disagree. They have access to many important things, including US citizenship, which they would not as an island nation.

J