What is divided government?
Divided government describes a presidential system in which the party controlling the executive does not hold the majority in the legislature. When one party holds both, the government is unified. In Korea the situation is called yeoso-yadae, "small ruling party, large opposition."
Because the U.S. Congress has two chambers, losing either the House or the Senate creates divided government. The federal government has been divided for more than half the time since World War II. Korea has also had divided government many times, beginning with the 13th National Assembly in 1988.
Why it happens
- Staggered elections: when presidential and legislative elections fall at different times, midterms often punish the governing party.
- Split-ticket voting: voters choose one party for president and another for the legislature. Morris Fiorina argued some voters balance the parties deliberately to get moderate policy.
- Incumbency and local bases: legislators' personal popularity in their districts can run independently of the presidential race.
- Multiparty systems and realignment: in Korea frequent party mergers and splits can create or end divided government between elections.
The gridlock debate
Divided government is often blamed for gridlock, with the president and legislature blocking each other. David Mayhew (1991) counted major laws and high-profile congressional investigations from 1946 to 1990 and found no clear difference between unified and divided periods.
Sarah Binder (1999) argued that one should measure how many issues on the agenda went unresolved, not just how many laws passed, and found that gridlock rises with divided government and with ideological distance between the parties. Many scholars now conclude that polarization magnifies the effect of divided government.
Presidentialism and divided government
Juan Linz (1990) warned that because president and legislature each claim a direct popular mandate ("dual legitimacy"), presidential systems lack a mechanism to resolve conflicts between them. Yet the same structure is separation of powers and checks and balances working as designed. Under divided government presidents tend to use vetoes and executive orders more, while legislatures use investigations and confirmation hearings.
In semi-presidential France, a president and prime minister from opposing parties is called cohabitation.
Assessment
- Advantages: it prevents concentration of power, subjects policy to scrutiny and can encourage cross-party compromise.
- Disadvantages: budgets and major bills are delayed, and blurred responsibility makes it hard for voters to know whom to hold accountable.
- Some argue that polarization, legislative rules such as the filibuster and presidential style matter more than divided control itself.
References
- Linz, J. J. (1990). The perils of presidentialism. Journal of Democracy, 1(1), 51–69.
- Mayhew, D. R. (1991). Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946–1990. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Fiorina, M. P. (1992). Divided Government. New York: Macmillan.
- Shugart, M. S., & Carey, J. M. (1992). Presidents and Assemblies: Constitutional Design and Electoral Dynamics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Binder, S. A. (1999). The dynamics of legislative gridlock, 1947–96. American Political Science Review, 93(3), 519–533.