Would the new 51st state of Puerto Rico be good for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, why?

Instructions from professor:

Puerto Rico – The 51st State
The United States has had a long and complicated history with the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens yet, Puerto Rico is not one of the United States. The ongoing issue of the proper status of Puerto Rico within our political system is one that is debated with passion on the island as well as within the halls of Congress. While I am NOT concerned with the historic details of this ongoing controversy for this essay, I would like to know how Puerto Rico as our 51st state would affect national politics?

For this essay I would like you to explain how the new state of Puerto Rico would affect the two political parties as well as the balance of power in Congress and during our Presidential Elections. Would the new 51st state of Puerto Rico be good for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, why? How would Congress be changed by this addition and what is the process for this addition to take place?

For this essay I would like you to take some of what you have learned in this class to answer the following question:

How would Puerto Rico (as our nation’s new 51st state) affect our two major political parties?

Format:

This essay should be 1000-1200 words, double-spaced, and turned in as a Microsoft Word document. As always, DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! I am using the plagiarism software TurnItIn for this assignment. So, make sure you tell me where you have referenced or used someone else’s material or resources from the internet in the body of your essay. For those of you who choose to use research, YOU MUST PROVIDE A WORKS CITED PAGE which does not count towards your 1000-1200 word requirement.

If you are going to use quotes, you can use a maximum of 5 lines total for the entire essay (no more than 100-130 words total). Anything more than that and your grade will be lowered. Much more than that and your points will be drastically cut. In other words, I’m expecting you to do the overwhelming majority of the writing. By the way, research is not required.

You will turn the essay in here on canvas in this assignment page.

Rubric Guide:

Format – 10%
Grammar – 20%
Argumentation/Creativity – 30%
Use of Course Material – 40%

Here is some course material that can be applied to one or many of the questions above and that you should consider using (in no particular order). And, I am not expecting that you would be able to apply all of these in a 1000-1200 word essay, but this should help get you going:

Our systems of Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Polarization of our two major political parties
Demographic data and the current Supreme Court
The Electoral College and swing states
The recent history of the Supreme Court’s 3 newest Justices
The current ideological majority on the court
The Filibuster
Demographic data and voting/registration patterns across the states
Article 4 – adding new states
The Legislative Process
The 2016, 2020, and 2024 Presidential Elections and 2018 and 2022 Midterm elections
Majority Rule and other Principles of Democracy

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