How should one define the American system of government? Sometimes, especially among non-American scholars, it is taken for granted that the American is a presidential system, or that it is the archetype of presidentialism. At other times, especially among American scholars, it is taken for granted that it incarnates the separation of power system envisioned by Madison. An historical-institutional analysis shows that both interpretations are unsatisfactory. The American system is better defined as a system of separated government which experienced different institutional pre-eminances during its two centuries of democratic history. The very same Constitution allowed a long period of congressional and then of presidential pre-eminence, recently tamed by a regime of divided government.
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