Substate nationalism and static autonomies : why secessionism prevails in Catalonia but not in Puerto Rico

Abstract

Canadian professor André Lecours’ (2021) theory argues that static autonomies stimulate secessionism while dynamic autonomies stave it off. Applied to regions like Catalonia, South Tyrol and Flanders, this theory is accurate. However, it fails to provide a satisfactory explanation for the puzzle of Puerto Rico, an island with a blatantly static autonomy that shows no increase in support for independence. This honor thesis aims at providing a more convincing and well- reasoned explanation of the island’s situation. To do so, the Most Different Systems Design is used in order to compare the island to Catalonia, as both are stateless nations with broad dissatisfaction their status quo. After an analysis of the autonomies, it is shown that Catalonia’s arrangement was static by design, proving to be a problem when the substate nationalism felt the need to evolve towards broader powers and therefore fueling secessionist tendencies. On the other hand, Puerto Rico’s autonomy is not only inflexible, but recently retrenched. In order to understand their reaction to this reality, a change in the dependent variable was warranted. It is concluded that in their quest for self-determination, Puerto Ricans have historically advocated for a relationship with the United States. Therefore, when rejecting the idea of enhancing their autonomy, they tend to favor statehood instead of independence. This is because they still perceive the United States of being able of accommodating and reciprocating their expectations, and the fact that a state of equals with the rest of Americans has always been promised and desired, but never fulfilled due to the colonial roots of their relationship.