If we call Washington DC the "District of Columbia", it's because the capital does not have the status of state. More than a historic choice, it is still and always a political decision that divides the Democrats and the Republicans.
Washington DC has not always been the capital of the United States. George Washington first took office in New York. Then, the capital was moved to Philadelphia, where it settled for a decade.
DC was a compromise between the founding fathers of the United States, including Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. The first wanted a capital located in the north, while the second, from the south, feared that it would be exposed to the influences of the economic and financial powers, very present in the region.
No representation in Congress
Wishing to make it a neutral ground, the "Founding Fathers" decided that the capital would not have the status of state and included it in the Constitution of the United States. Article 1, section 8, clause 17 explains that "le Congress shall have the power … to exercise the exclusive right of legislation, in any matter, over such district (not exceeding 10 miles squared) which, by assignment of particular States and upon acceptance by Congress, will become the seat of the US government"Clearly, states can not transfer power to another state.
When the capital was officially transferred to Washington in 1790, the inhabitants lost their right to vote in Congress and the electoral college (the body responsible for electing the president), as well as their say in the constitutional amendments. Fortunately for the residents, district members won a victory in 1961 with the adoption of the 23rd amendment to the Constitution, which gives them three votes in the constituency.
The 1964 presidential election marks the first time that DC residents have a real say in who will sit in the White House. In Congress, DC only has one "fictional delegation"Named"shadow US Senator " in English. They are congressional representatives who can speak but can not vote.
A political struggle to the present day
To date, DC does not have voting rights in Congress and the federal government retains jurisdiction over the city. The reason why the Congress – which is to have a two-thirds majority – refuses to pass an amendment that would allow Washington DC to have a representative is purely strategic: the city is a democratic majority, which would give a vote to within the Congress to the American left.
Supporters of DC recognition as a state are numerous in the city, such as Washington DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton who, in January 2019, introduced a bill with unprecedented support. "Soldiers from the District of Columbia have served alongside their compatriots in every American wars of our history. However, when these heroes return home to the capital, they have fewer votes and do not vote in their own government they have just defended, " said Eleanor Holmes Norton in a press release, during Memorial Day.
For years, the local number plates marked with the phrase "Taxation Without Representation"Already showed that citizens did not like to pay taxes when they did not have the right to vote in Congress. In 2016, the councilors decided to go further with the update of the slogan, changing it for "End Taxation Without Representation", That we meet more and more in the streets of the capital.
