Study finds deepening public distrust, eroding sense of self-governance

Puerto Rican flags and U.S. flag hang outside in a community in northern Puerto Rico, on Oct. 25, 2017. A new study documents a deepening crisis of public trust and sovereignty in Puerto Rico. (Erika P. Rodríguez/The New York Times)

By THE STAR STAFF

People in Puerto Rico are losing faith not only in their elected leaders but in the very idea that the island’s government can meaningfully chart its own course, according to a new study that documents a deepening crisis of trust and sovereignty.

The study, conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research and the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, finds widespread distrust in elected officials and a prevailing sense that Puerto Rico operates with limited autonomy under U.S. federal authority, according to a statement Thursday.

The Laboratorio Puertorriqueño de Opinión Pública (LabPOP), housed within Michigan’s Center for Political Studies, surveyed 1,266 residents between April and November 2025. Half of respondents said most or all elected officials are corrupt. Nearly two‑thirds believe the government does not address their needs, and more than seven in 10 feel their voices are not reflected in public decision‑making. Researchers are now conducting a second wave of interviews with the same panelists to track how attitudes evolve over time.

This discontent is mirrored in low approval ratings for Gov. Jenniffer González Colón. Only 13% of residents say they support her performance, while 63% report disapproval, according to the study.

For Mara Cecilia Ostfeld, LabPOP’s principal investigator, the findings highlight a broader crisis of sovereignty. She notes that 72% of residents believe the Puerto Rican government has little or no power to make independent decisions without federal intervention, and 68% say the federally appointed Financial Oversight and Management Board wields more influence over local laws than the island’s elected officials.

“This lack of economic and political sovereignty fundamentally shapes how residents view democratic possibility,” Ostfeld said.

The study also suggests that Puerto Rico’s traditional political alignments are shifting. While 35% of respondents support the current territorial status, 32% favor statehood and 18% back independence, large portions of each group no longer identify with the parties historically associated with those positions. Forty‑two percent of residents say they do not identify with any political party at all, a figure nearly double the support for the most popular party. Among those who do claim a partisan identity, fewer than one in five describe their attachment as strong.

Ostfeld said the weakening link between status preference and party identity reflects a broader distancing from traditional political labels, even as the status question remains central to how many residents approach elections.

“Even the parties most closely tied to a status position don’t come close to monopolizing that position’s supporters,” she said.

Researchers found similar fluidity in how Puerto Ricans describe their racial identity. When asked using U.S. Census categories, 43% identified as white; when asked using common Puerto Rican terms, that number dropped to 29%.

The project is led by co‑principal investigators Luis Raúl Cámara Fuertes and Mayra Vélez Serrano of UPR-Río Piedras, along with Viviana Rivera Burgos of Baruch College and Ignangeli Salinas‑Muñiz of the University of Michigan. The team plans to continue tracking public sentiment as Puerto Rico navigates ongoing debates over governance, autonomy and political representation.