Stalemate within the constitutional system usually increases during periods of divided government, when one political party controls the presidency and the other at least one house of Congress (Thurber 1991; Ripley and Franklin 1991). The reasons are clear. Members of the same political party tend to have similar beliefs concerning the scope of government and the direction of policies, but the two major parties often hold strongly conflicting views on these matters. Although divided government makes agreement and cooperation difficult, even in these circumstances policymaking can proceed. In fact, David Mayhew (1991) argues that divided government has a limited impact on the enactment of major public policies at the national level.