Congruent we govern : coalition management in multi-party presidentialism

Abstract

It challenges the classic definition of divided/unified government as it is applied to multi-party presidential regimes. In this kind of institutional environment, the president's minority condition in Congress is the norm. Building and managing coalition governments, therefore, is the primary task of presidents in order to govern. It departs from the conventional 'arithmetic definition' of divided government and propose a reconceptualization of divided/unified government based on the ideological congruence between the governing coalition and the floor of the Congress. The paper explores empirically the implications of this reconceptualization with Latin American and Brazilian data. It argues that the ideological distance between the floor and the coalition is a key factor explaining legislative success of presidents, costs of governing, coalition breakdowns, chance of impeachments and the degree of activism and effectiveness of legislative oversight mechanisms.