Note 51 — Chapter VIII · POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRACTICAL POLITICS
Reading edition
That, indeed, is what does actually happen at times in spite of the party system. A President, elected by one political party, negotiates a treaty; a Senate controlled by the other political party declines to ratify it. A governor insists that pledges made by him during the election campaign shall be carried out; but the legislature (having a majority of the opposite faith) declines to pass the necessary laws. A mayor tries to make an appointment, and his political opponents in the city council refuse confirmation. Such things happen now and then. As a general rule, however, when a political party gains control of one branch of the government it gains control of the other too.