The Curse Of One-Party Government

The two most politically successful and popular recent presidents, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, shared power for most or all of their terms; the most widely reviled of recent presidents, George W. Bush, saw his popularity collapse when Republicans won total control. The two great domestic reforms of their respective eras, tax reform in 1986 and welfare reform in 1996, were products of divided control. In a world of binary government, forcing the parties to share power is the only way to achieve sustainable bipartisanship in government; to ensure that moderate voters and policies are adequately represented in politics; and to give controversial reforms such as health care legislation the imprimatur of consensus.