Political Puerto Rico

After listening to the teacher Friday, I was very surprised that politics were such a dominating force in Puerto Rico. In the United States it is very good if we get about 60% of registered voters to vote in most elections. Also in the U.S., it seems most people do not care much about politics, and they have very little knowledge about why they support the particular candidate that they do support. Where as in Puerto Rico it seems as if politics often dominate the conversations and take up a large portion of the social scene in Puerto Rico.
I can see how politics are more dominate in a place such as Puerto Rico because they have many controversial topics to debate. Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States so while they are not allowed to vote for U.S. officials, these officials are the ones who make decisions that affect them. The only political representation that those people in Puerto Rico have is an elected governor. I could see how this lack of representation could anger many, so this is one of the reasons for the extreme interest in politics within Puerto Rico. Also, many people there love being a part of the U.S. because they can freely travel between Puerto Rico without passports or any other documents because they are citizens of the U.S. essentially. These two different views cause much debate within the country, and I believe that this debate with continue. Some will probably want Puerto Rico to become a state like Hawaii, others will want independence, and other will probably not want any change. This debate will continue and the current context will depend on how the country is doing economically and socially! As a government major, I find this topic very interesting, and I look forward to researching it some more!