Unified government, Divided government and Cohabitation in government

[This was published in Dhaka Courier on 01 February 2017

Speaking candidly, to understand, define and classify the formulas of government under various set-ups and circumstances in the context of time, space and dimension, yes, attempts have been on from the days of Aristotle down to present time. Reality unfolds the truth that within the fold of any system there also we meet with peculiarities and variations, be it presidential model or parliamentary one. More veracity is that even in pure presidential system there may be chasm between president and parliament while existence and continuance of the bled of the pure two models is potentially visible and vibrant. From such standpoints, here our concern involves Unified government, Divided government and Cohabitation in government mostly or to say more accurately are available distinctively in USA and France.

Unified government is a case of USA under its presidential system. It arises when one party controls the White House and both houses of Congress, and it's theoretically, if not practically all the time, easy to pass and enact legislation because of the shared goals held by members of the same party. Say for example, Donald Trump Administration and US congress.

 It is also called government trifecta. Trifecta is a recent addition to the English language. It first appeared in the early 1970s as a term for a horse-racing bet in which the first, second, and third place finishers are chosen in the correct order. Under such a state of standing in a parliamentary system Majority party/coalition forms government

The word has since broadened in meaning: it can now also refer to a group of three (usually desirable) things (such as “the trifecta of curing cancer, ending hunger, and putting an end to war"). It is found in everything from advertisements to media company names to casual speech.

Trifecta combines the prefix tri- (meaning “three”) with the last element in government trifecta, a word of American Spanish origin that refers to a horse-racing bet in which the first- and second-place finishers are chosen correctly.

Divided government refers to a situation in which one party switches the White House and another party controls one or both houses of the United States Congress say, Barak Obama Administration and US Congress. Here the While House was controlled by Democratic Party while the both Houses of Congress was under the command of Republican Party. Divided government is branded by some to be an undesirable product of the separation of powers in the United States' political system.

Even Unified government may face the fate of Divided government under the circumstances, exciting or not. Such possibility can stand up from widening chasm on issues and policies--- open or not--between the President and the Senate/House of Representatives or the both Houses of the Congress, though they belong to the same party. It is feared that this may crop during Donald Trump Administration.

Speaking in a limited sense and understanding, the taxonomy cohabitation can connote any number of people living together. And in a wider sagacity, ‘cohabit’ implies to ‘coexist’. For its basis it owes to Latin ‘cohabitare’. In course of time, it also got accommodated within the fold of politics and government with French Fifth Republic as Pioneer. ’Cohabitation in government’ does not occur in all systems of government. It is possible only in semi-presidential systems, such as France system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament. The president is directly elected by the French people every five years. The French Constitution declares him head of state and gives him control over foreign policy and defense. After parliamentary elections—held every five years or sooner if the president calls them—the president appoints a prime minister.

But cohabitation in government does take place in all semi-presidential systems. Curiously enough, under the semi-presidential system being followed in Srilanka President, directly elected for a five-year term, is head of state, head of government and commander in chief of the armed forces. The president, responsible to Parliament for the exercise of duties under the constitution and laws, is subject to removal from office by a two-thirds vote of Parliament with the concurrence of the Supreme Court. Here Prime Minister who leads the ruling party in Parliament is treated as President’s deputy. In case of any vacancy to the office of the President, it is the Prime Minister who takes over as acting President. Markedly to be noted that remains here no scope for cohabitation in government because of the reality that, unlike the French System, there is no chance for President and Prime Minister for being elected from two different political parties.