Divided Government and Institutional Combat: The Case of the Quayle Council on Competitiveness

The Quayle Council on Competitiveness is best understood as the latest executive branch weapon in the interbranch institutional combat that prevails during periods of divided government. This exploration of the Council's impact begins with an overview of the divided government debate, explores its battles with congressional Democrats over regulations implementing the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990, and ends with a brief discussion of how the contours of partisan struggle over regulation were altered by the advent of unified party control in 1993 and the return to divided government in 1995.