Collaborative Research on Divided Government

在西方民主国家，尤其是在美国，政策结果是独立的行政和立法机构相互作用的结果。政策决定反映了这两个分支的党派和意识形态构成。在这种背景下，分裂政府的出现是因为选民希望通过缓和由一个政党或观点控制的行政部门与由另一个政党或观点主导的立法机构之间的制衡来创造制衡。这项复杂的研究探索了几个理论和经验问题，涉及美国和其他几个民主国家日益增长的政府分裂趋势。首先，这项研究将考察了解立法机构的政策组成对总统候选人的影响。其次，这项研究将考虑分裂的政府对第三方倾向和成功的影响。第三，将探讨选民投票率可能被用作缓和手段的可能性。最后，将通过研究其他国家，特别是法国政府分裂的动态来评估结果的稳健性。这项研究完成后，应该会大大增加我们对美国政府分裂的原因和后果的理解。它还应该并提供关于制度制衡运作的宝贵信息，这些信息不仅在美国有用，在新的民主国家就要发展的制度类型作出决定时尤其有用。这是与霍华德·罗森塔尔(SES-9111059)的合作研究。

In western democracies and, in particular, in the United States, policy outcomes are functions of the interaction of the separate executive and legislature. Policy decisions are reflections of the partisan and ideological composition of the two branches. In this context, divided government occurs as a result of voters' desire to create checks and balances by moderating an executive controlled by one party or point of view against a legislature dominated by another party or perspective. This sophisticated research explores several theoretical and empirical issues with respect to the growing trend toward divided government both in the United States and in various other democratic nations. First, the research will examine the effects on presidential candidates of knowing the policy composition of the legislature. Second, the study will consider the effects of divided government on the propensity toward and success of third parties. Third, the possibility that voter turnout may be used as a moderating devise will be explored. Finally, the robustness of the results will be evaluated by examining the dynamics of divided government in other countries, specifically in france. When completed this research should greatly increase our understanding of the causes and consequences of divided government in the United States. It also should and provide valuable information on the operation of institutional checks and balances that will be of use not only in the United States but especially in new democracies as they make decisions about the types of institutions to develop. This is collaborative research with Howard Rosenthal (SES-9111059).