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A government trifecta is a political situation in which the same political party controls the executive branch and both chambers of the legislative branch in countries that have a bicameral legislature and an executive that is not fused. The term is primarily used in the United States, where the term originated—being borrowed from horse race betting. [2]
Most countries and all democracies have some degree of separation of powers into separate branches of government, typically consisting of an executive, a legislative, and a judicial branch, but the term government trifecta is primarily applied to countries in which the executive is not elected by the legislature and where the legislature is not sovereign; in parliamentary systems, the executive or part of it is elected by the legislature and must have the support of the majority of Parliament.
Government trifectas are seen as beneficial by some and as undesirable by others. Those in favor argue that government trifectas are efficient and avoid gridlocks. Opponents argue that trifectas discourage policing of those in power by the opposition and that they do not limit spending and the expansion of undesirable laws. [3] Opponents also argue that government trifectas do not tend to lead to compromise since one party can simply implement its goals unopposed. Consequently, the incumbent party may alter the structure of executive agencies to prepare for when it is bound to lose its incumbency. [4] These alterations are performed to secure control over the agencies for when the party is no longer incumbent. Examples of these include political appointments that extend beyond the political cycle, contract or grant awards, and debt issuances.
The situation is common in developing nations but rare in developed ones. Early in the 20th century, for example, government trifectas were common in the United States, but they have become increasingly rare since the 1970s. State government trifectas have become more common since the 2010s, going from 24 states having trifectas to 36 in 2020.
Government trifectas are contrasted by divided governments—a situation in which one party controls the executive branch while another party controls one or both houses of the legislative branch.
In systems that use fusion of powers and where the executive has to rely on the confidence of the legislature, the executive is almost always composed of members of the party or coalition that controls the lower house of the legislature, essentially creating a situation where there always is a government trifecta, assuming the upper chamber is in the same party's control. [lower-alpha 1] If there is no government trifecta a legislature may pass a motion of no confidence to force the government to resign, thereby giving the legislature the power to create a government trifecta and making government trifectas not as significant compared to systems that use separation of powers, since one has to wait for a new election to establish or abolish a government trifecta.
The term is primarily used in the United States, where the federal government level consists of the president and the Congress with its two chambers (the House and the Senate).
Because of the coattail effect, most newly elected presidents have a majority with them in both chambers of Congress. The six-year itch conversely means that the last two years of a two-term president rarely have trifectas. The most recent federal trifecta was held by the Democratic Party from January 20, 2021 to January 3, 2023. The longest trifectas were two stints of 14 years, one for each major party: 1932-1946 for the Democrats, coinciding with Franklin D. Roosevelt's three terms plus Harry S. Truman's first two years, and the 1897 to 1911 Republican trifecta, spanning the presidencies of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.
At the state level, a trifecta means that one party holds the governorship and both legislative houses. The sole exception is in Nebraska, where there is a unicameral legislature.
Year | Total | Dem | Rep | Spread |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 39 | 17 | 22 | R+5 |
2022 | 37 | 14 | 23 | R+9 |
2021 | 38 | 15 | 23 | R+8 |
2020 | 36 | 15 | 21 | R+6 |
2019 | 36 | 14 | 22 | R+8 |
2018 | 33 | 7 | 26 | R+19 |
2017 | 31 | 5 | 26 | R+21 |
2016 | 31 | 6 | 25 | R+19 |
2015 | 31 | 7 | 24 | R+17 |
2014 | 30 | 7 | 23 | R+16 |
2013 | 36 | 12 | 24 | R+12 |
2012 | 34 | 11 | 23 | R+12 |
2011 | 32 | 11 | 21 | R+10 |
2010 | 24 | 16 | 8 | D+8 |
2009 | 26 | 17 | 9 | D+8 |
2008 | 23 | 14 | 9 | D+5 |
2007 | 24 | 15 | 9 | D+6 |
2006 | 20 | 8 | 12 | R+4 |
2005 | 20 | 8 | 12 | R+4 |
2004 | 21 | 9 | 12 | R+3 |
2003 | 21 | 9 | 12 | R+3 |
2002 | 20 | 9 | 11 | R+2 |
2001 | 21 | 9 | 13 | R+4 |
2000 | 24 | 8 | 15 | R+7 |
1999 | 23 | 9 | 14 | R+5 |
1998 | 19 | 6 | 13 | R+7 |
1997 | 18 | 6 | 12 | R+6 |
1996 | 21 | 7 | 14 | R+7 |
1995 | 23 | 8 | 15 | R+7 |
1994 | 20 | 16 | 4 | D+12 |
1993 | 21 | 18 | 3 | D+15 |
1992 | 18 | 15 | 3 | D+12 |
A visual representation of US state government trifectas over time:
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Separation of powers is the division of a government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with others. The typical division into three branches of government, sometimes called the trias politica model, includes a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary. It can be contrasted with fusion of powers in many monarchies, but also parliamentary and semi-presidential systems in which overlap can exist in membership and functions between different branches, especially the executive and legislative.
The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary government that incorporates a series of procedures for operating a legislature, first developed in England. Key aspects of the system include an executive branch made up of members of the legislature, and that is responsible to the legislature; the presence of parliamentary opposition parties; and a ceremonial head of state who is separate from the head of government. The term derives from the Palace of Westminster, which has been the seat of the Westminster Parliament in England and later the United Kingdom since the 13th century. The Westminster system is often contrasted with the presidential system that originated in the United States, or with the semi-presidential system, based on the government of France.
A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Legislatures can exist at different levels of government–national, state/provincial/regional, local, even supranational. Countries differ as to what extent they grant deliberative assemblies at the subnational law-making power, as opposed to purely administrative responsibilities.
Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single group. As of 2022, roughly 40% of the world's national legislatures are bicameral, while unicameralism represents 60% nationally and much more at the subnational level.
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Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or parliamentary chambers. It is contrasted with unicameralism and bicameralism, which are both far more common.
The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. The name "General Court" is a holdover from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when the colonial assembly, in addition to making laws, sat as a judicial court of appeals. Before the adoption of the state constitution in 1780, it was called the Great and General Court, but the official title was shortened by John Adams, author of the state constitution. It is a bicameral body. The upper house is the Massachusetts Senate which is composed of 40 members. The lower body, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, has 160 members; until 1978, the state house had 240 members. It meets in the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill in Boston.
An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.
A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where second chamber is the upper house. Although formally styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise exert significant political influence. The lower house is typically the more numerous of the two chambers.
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In the United States, divided government describes a situation in which one party controls the White House, while another party controls one or both houses of the United States Congress. 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.
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Fusion of powers is a feature of some parliamentary forms of government where different branches of government are intermingled or fused, typically the executive and legislative branches. It is contrasted with the separation of powers found in presidential, semi-presidential and dualistic parliamentary forms of government, where the membership of the legislative and executive powers cannot overlap. Fusion of powers exists in many, if not a majority of, parliamentary democracies, and does so by design. However, in all modern democratic polities the judiciary does not possess legislative or executive powers.
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