In the United States, divided government describes a situation in which one party controls the White House (executive branch), while another party controls one or both houses of the United States Congress (legislative branch). Divided government is seen by different groups as a benefit or as an undesirable product of the model of governance used in the U.S. political system. Under said model, known as the separation of powers, the state is divided into different branches. Each branch has separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with the powers associated with the others. The degree to which the president of the United States has control of Congress often determines their political strength, such as the ability to pass sponsored legislation, ratify treaties, and have Cabinet members and judges approved. Early in the 19th century, divided government was rare but since the 1970s it has become increasingly common.
The model can be contrasted with the fusion of powers in a parliamentary system where the executive and legislature (and sometimes parts of the judiciary) are unified. Those in favor of divided government believe that such separations encourage more policing of those in power by the opposition, as well as limiting spending and the expansion of undesirable laws.[1] Opponents, however, argue that divided governments become lethargic, leading to many gridlocks. In the late 1980s, Terry M. Moe, a professor of political science at Stanford University, examined the issue.[2] He concluded that divided governments lead to compromise which can be seen as beneficial, but he also noticed that divided governments subvert performance and politicize the decisions of executive agencies. Additionally, further research has shown that during divided governments, legislatures will pass laws with sunset provisions in order to achieve a political consensus.[3]
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Transcription
Have you ever wondered who has the authority to make laws or punish people who break them? When we think of power in the United States, we usually think of the President, but he does not act alone. In fact, he is only one piece of the power puzzle and for very good reason. When the American Revolution ended in 1783, the United States government was in a state of change. The founding fathers knew that they did not want to establish another country that was ruled by a king, so the discussions were centered on having a strong and fair national government that protected individual freedoms and did not abuse its power. When the new constitution was adopted in 1787, the structure of the infant government of the United States called for three separate branches, each with their own powers, and a system of checks and balances. This would ensure that no one branch would ever become too powerful because the other branches would always be able to check the power of the other two. These branches work together to run the country and set guidelines for us all to live by. The legislative branch is described in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution. Many people feel that the founding fathers put this branch in the document first because they thought it was the most important. The legislative branch is comprised of 100 U.S. Senators and 435 members in the U.S. House of Representatives. This is better known as the U.S. Congress. Making laws is the primary function of the legislative branch, but it is also responsible for approving federal judges and justices, passing the national budget, and declaring war. Each state gets two Senators and some number of Representatives, depending on how many people live in that state. The executive branch is described in Article 2 of the Constitution. The leaders of this branch of government are the President and Vice President, who are responsible for enforcing the laws that Congress sets forth. The President works closely with a group of advisors, known as the Cabinet. These appointed helpers assist the President in making important decisions within their area of expertise, such as defense, the treasury, and homeland security. The executive branch also appoints government officials, commands the armed forces, and meets with leaders of other nations. All that combined is a lot of work for a lot of people. In fact, the executive branch employs over 4 million people to get everything done. The third brand of the U.S. government is the judicial branch and is detailed in Article 3. This branch is comprised of all the courts in the land, from the federal district courts to the U.S. Supreme Court. These courts interpret our nation's laws and punish those who break them. The highest court, the Supreme Court, settles disputes among states, hears appeals from state and federal courts, and determines if federal laws are constitutional. There are nine justices on the Supreme Court, and, unlike any other job in our government, Supreme Court justices are appointed for life, or for as long as they want to stay. Our democracy depends on an informed citizenry, so it is our duty to know how it works and what authority each branch of government has over its citizens. Besides voting, chances are that some time in your life you'll be called upon to participate in your government, whether it is to serve on a jury, testify in court, or petition your Congress person to pass or defeat an idea for a law. By knowning the branches, who runs them, and how they work together, you can be involved, informed, and intelligent.
Party control of legislative and executive branches
List
Key
- D denotes the Democratic Party, R denotes the Republican Party.
- Bold indicates a divided government.
Year | Senate | House | President party |
President |
---|---|---|---|---|
1861–1863 | R | R | R | Lincoln |
1863–1865 | R | R | R | |
1865–1867 | R | R | D | A. Johnson |
1867–1869 | R | R | D | |
1869–1871 | R | R | R | Grant |
1871–1873 | R | R | R | |
1873–1875 | R | R | R | |
1875–1877 | R | D | R | |
1877–1879 | R | D | R | Hayes |
1879–1881 | D | D | R | |
1881–1883 | R[a] | R | R | Garfield / Arthur |
1883–1885 | R | D | R | Arthur |
1885–1887 | R | D | D | Cleveland |
1887–1889 | R | D | D | |
1889–1891 | R | R | R | Harrison |
1891–1893 | R | D | R | |
1893–1895 | D | D | D | Cleveland |
1895–1897 | R | R | D | |
1897–1899 | R | R | R | McKinley |
1899–1901 | R | R | R | |
1901–1903 | R | R | R | McKinley / T. Roosevelt |
1903–1905 | R | R | R | T. Roosevelt |
1905–1907 | R | R | R | |
1907–1909 | R | R | R | |
1909–1911 | R | R | R | Taft |
1911–1913 | R | D | R | |
1913–1915 | D | D | D | Wilson |
1915–1917 | D | D | D | |
1917–1919 | D | D[b] | D | |
1919–1921 | R | R | D | |
1921–1923 | R | R | R | Harding |
1923–1925 | R | R | R | Harding / Coolidge |
1925–1927 | R | R | R | Coolidge |
1927–1929 | R | R | R | |
1929–1931 | R | R | R | Hoover |
1931–1933 | R | D | R | |
1933–1935 | D | D | D | F. Roosevelt |
1935–1937 | D | D | D | |
1937–1939 | D | D | D | |
1939–1941 | D | D | D | |
1941–1943 | D | D | D | |
1943–1945 | D | D | D | |
1945–1947 | D | D | D | F. Roosevelt / Truman |
1947–1949 | R | R | D | Truman |
1949–1951 | D | D | D | |
1951–1953 | D | D | D | |
1953–1955 | R[c] | R | R | Eisenhower |
1955–1957 | D | D | R | |
1957–1959 | D | D | R | |
1959–1961 | D | D | R | |
1961–1963 | D | D | D | Kennedy |
1963–1965 | D | D | D | Kennedy / Johnson |
1965–1967 | D | D | D | Johnson |
1967–1969 | D | D | D | |
1969–1971 | D | D | R | Nixon |
1971–1973 | D | D | R | |
1973–1975 | D | D | R | Nixon / Ford |
1975–1977 | D | D | R | Ford |
1977–1979 | D | D | D | Carter |
1979–1981 | D | D | D | |
1981–1983 | R | D | R | Reagan |
1983–1985 | R | D | R | |
1985–1987 | R | D | R | |
1987–1989 | D | D | R | |
1989–1991 | D | D | R | G.H.W. Bush |
1991–1993 | D | D | R | |
1993–1995 | D | D | D | Clinton |
1995–1997 | R | R | D | |
1997–1999 | R | R | D | |
1999–2001 | R | R | D | |
2001–2003 | D[d] | R | R | G.W. Bush |
2003–2005 | R | R | R | |
2005–2007 | R | R | R | |
2007–2009 | D | D | R | |
2009–2011 | D | D | D | Obama |
2011–2013 | D | R | D | |
2013–2015 | D | R | D | |
2015–2017 | R | R | D | |
2017–2019 | R | R | R | Trump |
2019–2021 | R | D | R | |
2021–2023 | D[e] | D | D | |
2023–2025 | D | R | D | |
Year | Senate | House | President party |
President |
Presidential impact
Many presidents' elections produced what is known as a coattail effect, in which the success of a presidential candidate also leads to electoral success for other members of their party. In fact, all newly elected presidents except Zachary Taylor, Richard Nixon, and George H. W. Bush were accompanied by control of at least one house of Congress.
Presidents by congressional control and terms
Most columns are in numbers of years.
No. | President | President's party | Elections won | Years served | Senate with | Senate opposed | House with | House opposed | Congress with | Congress divided | Congress opposed | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Washington | None | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||
2 | John Adams | Federalist | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |||
3 | Thomas Jefferson | Democratic-Republican | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | |||
4 | James Madison | Democratic-Republican | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | |||
5 | James Monroe | Democratic-Republican | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | |||
6 | John Quincy Adams | Democratic-Republican | National-Republican | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
7 | Andrew Jackson | Democratic | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | |||
8 | Martin Van Buren | Democratic | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |||
9 | William Harrison | Whig | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | |||
10 | John Tyler | Whig | Independent | 0 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 0 | 1.9 | 2 | 1.9 | 2 | 0 | ||
11 | James Polk | Democratic | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||
12 | Zachary Taylor | Whig | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
13 | Millard Fillmore | Whig | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
14 | Franklin Pierce | Democratic | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||
15 | James Buchanan | Democratic | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||
16 | Abraham Lincoln | Republican | National Union | 2 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 0 | 4.1 | 0 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | ||
17 | Andrew Johnson | Democratic | National Union | 0 | 3.9 | 0 | 3.9 | 0 | 3.9 | 0 | 0 | 3.9 | ||
18 | Ulysses Grant | Republican | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | |||
19 | Rutherford Hayes | Republican | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||
20 | James Garfield | Republican | 1 | 0.5 | 0[a] | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | |||
21 | Chester Arthur | Republican | 0 | 3.5 | 3.5[a] | 0 | 1.5 | 2 | 1.5 | 2 | 0 | |||
22 | Grover Cleveland | Democratic | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||
23 | Benjamin Harrison | Republican | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||
24 | Grover Cleveland | Democratic | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||
25 | William McKinley | Republican | 2 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0 | 4.5 | 0 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | |||
26 | Theodore Roosevelt | Republican | 1 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0 | 7.5 | 0 | 7.5 | 0 | 0 | |||
27 | William Taft | Republican | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||
28 | Woodrow Wilson | Democratic | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 6[b] | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | |||
29 | Warren Harding | Republican | 1 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 0 | 2.4 | 0 | 2.4 | 0 | 0 | |||
30 | Calvin Coolidge | Republican | 1 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 0 | 5.6 | 0 | 5.6 | 0 | 0 | |||
31 | Herbert Hoover | Republican | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||
32 | Franklin Roosevelt | Democratic | 4 | 12.2 | 12.2 | 0 | 12.2 | 0 | 12.2 | 0 | 0 | |||
33 | Harry Truman | Democratic | 1 | 7.8 | 5.8 | 2 | 5.8 | 2 | 5.8 | 0 | 2 | |||
34 | Dwight Eisenhower | Republican | 2 | 8 | 2[c] | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | |||
35 | John Kennedy | Democratic | 1 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 0 | 2.8 | 0 | 2.8 | 0 | 0 | |||
36 | Lyndon Johnson | Democratic | 1 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 0 | 5.2 | 0 | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | |||
37 | Richard Nixon | Republican | 2 | 5.6 | 0 | 5.6 | 0 | 5.6 | 0 | 0 | 5.6 | |||
38 | Gerald Ford | Republican | 0 | 2.4 | 0 | 2.4 | 0 | 2.4 | 0 | 0 | 2.4 | |||
39 | Jimmy Carter | Democratic | 1 | 4 | 4[f] | 0[f] | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |||
40 | Ronald Reagan | Republican | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |||
41 | George H. W. Bush | Republican | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
42 | Bill Clinton | Democratic | 2 | 8 | 2[g] | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | |||
43 | George W. Bush | Republican | 2 | 8 | 4.5[d] | 3.5[d] | 6 | 2 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 2 | |||
44 | Barack Obama | Democratic | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |||
45 | Donald Trump | Republican | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||
46 | Joe Biden | Democratic | 1 | 3 | 3[e] | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||
No. | President | President's party | Elections won | Years served | Senate with | Senate opposed | House with | House opposed | Congress with | Congress divided | Congress opposed |
See also
- Divided government
- Government trifectas in the United States
- Party divisions of United States Congresses
- Political party strength in U.S. states
Notes
- ^ a b c The 1880-81 elections resulted in a 37-37 tie in the Senate, with 1 Readjuster and 1 Independent caucusing with the opposite parties. The Constitution gives tie-breaking power to the vice president, which was Republican Chester A. Arthur for part of the 47th Congress, then left vacant after his accession.
- ^ a b The 1916 elections resulted in the Republican Party winning a plurality of seats, but the Democratic Party formed a coalition government with the Progressive Party and Socialist Party.
- ^ a b The 1952 elections resulted in a 49-47 Republican majority, but Wayne Morse switched to become an Independent, and vacancies resulted in a tied Senate for part of the Congress. The Constitution gives tie-breaking power to the vice president, which for most of the 83rd Congress was Republican Richard Nixon.
- ^ a b c The 2000 elections resulted in a 50–50 tie in the Senate, and the Constitution gives tie-breaking power to the vice president. The vice president during most of the 107th Congress was Republican Dick Cheney. Then on May 24, 2001, Republican Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican Party to caucus with the Democrats as an independent, resulting in Democrats gaining the Senate majority.
- ^ a b The 2020 elections resulted in a 50–50 tie in the Senate, and the Constitution gives tie-breaking power to the vice president. The vice president during most of the 117th Congress was Democrat Kamala Harris.
- ^ a b Carter served the last 17 days of his presidency with a Republican majority Senate.
- ^ Clinton served the last 17 days of his 2nd term with a 50-50 majority in the senate, and the Constitution gives tie-breaking power to the vice president. During this brief period, Democrat Al Gore was the tie breaker until Republican Dick Cheney was sworn in and broke the tie in favor of the Republicans.
References
- ^ "Would Divided Government Be Better?". Cato Institute. 3 September 2006. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ Moe, Terry (1989). "The Politics of Bureaucratic Structure". Retrieved 2016-05-04.
- ^ Dorssom, Elizabeth I. (March 21, 2021). "Does Legislative Institutionalization Impact Policy Adoption? New Evidence from the Colonial and Early State Legislatures 1757–1795". Social Science Quarterly. 102 (4): 1451–1465. doi:10.1111/ssqu.12956. S2CID 233619783.
- ^ "Party In Power - Congress and Presidency - A Visual Guide To The Balance of Power In Congress, 1945-2008". Uspolitics.about.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
- ^ "Chart of Presidents of the United States". Filibustercartoons.com. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
- ^ "Composition of Congress by Party 1855–2013". Infoplease.com. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
Further reading
- Ansolabehere, S., Palmer, M., & Schneer, B. (2018). Divided Government and Significant Legislation: A History of Congress from 1789 to 2010. Social Science History, 42(1), 81-108.
- Morris Fiorina, Divided Government, 1996.
- David R. Mayhew, Divided We Govern, 1991.