Other Countries
Cohabitation does not occur within standard presidential systems. While a number of presidential democracies, such as the United States, have seen power shared between a president and legislature of different political parties, this situation (known as "divided government") is distinct from cohabitation. In a situation of divided government, the executive is directed by a president of one party while the legislature is controlled by another party; in cohabitation, by contrast, executive power is divided between a president of one party and a cabinet of government ministers of another party. Cohabitation thus only occurs in systems that have both parliamentary government (i.e. ministers accountable to parliament) and a directly-elected executive president, i.e. semi-presidential systems.
The theory of cohabitation is not limited to France, but there are not many countries where the constitutional structure exists in which it could occur. However, many of the new democracies of eastern Europe have adopted institutions quite similar to France, and cohabitation may become more common. Still, if those countries elect their executives and legislature at the same time, as France is now starting to do, then cohabitation will be less likely.
See U.S. presidents and control of Congress.
Read more about this topic: Cohabitation (government)
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