Executive Branch
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48 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Appointment Power | The Power of the President to appoint leaders of government agencies. |
| Appropriation | A bill which gives the government the power to spend money. |
| Bureaucracy | A hierarchical system where members are assigned specific tasks. It often has a civil service. |
| Cabinet | A groups of advisers, one from each of the 15 Federal Departments, which advises the President. |
| Census | When the government counts the number of residents in the country, per household and per state, for tax and representation purposes. |
| Chief diplomat (President) | The president has the power to negotiate treaties with other countries (though the Senate must approve them) and commit troops (for a maximum of 60 days without express permission from the Senate.) |
| Chief executive (President) | The president is the chief of the executive branch, and is intrusted to see that "the laws of the land are faithfully executed." This means that he can choose to enforce certain laws more than others, can impound funds, is in charge of the Military and drafts budgets for Congress. He may also issue executive mandates, which are in essence laws which citizens and agencies are required to follow unless they go against some legislation passed by Congress. |
| Civil Service | Part (the majority, nearly 90%) of the the government bureaucracy which is hierarchical and where people earn their positions through tests and and standardized procedures. |
| Commander-in-Chief (President) | The President is the head of the military, and as such can order the movement of troops (though the Congress has the power to declare war.) |
| Continuing Resolution | If the Congress cannot decide on budgets, then they can decide for the budget to remain at the same limits it was the year before. |
| Debt | When someone, some institution or some nation owes money to another. |
| Deficit | When the government (or an institution or individual) spends more than the collect in taxes (or make). |
| Depression | When the Economy fails. |
| Discretionary spending | Spending which the Congress evaluates each year and which is not required by law. This includes military spending. |
| Entitlement programs | Garuntee certain financial privileges to people if they meet eligibility, such as Social Security. |
| Executive agreement | An international agreement negotiated by the President which does not have to be passed by the Senate, though does not supersede federal law (though it does supersede state laws.) |
| Executive Branch | The Branch of government which holds the executive powers (the power to enforce laws and command the military.) |
| Executive order | The power of the President to issue mandates so long as they do not go against legislation passed by Congress. |
| Executive privilege | The power of the President to not sit trail for offenses committed in official policy. (He can't be sued for his political actions.) He may also withhold certain information which endangers public safety. |
| Fiscal policy | The use of government money to promote economic health. |
| Fiscal year | From October 1 to September 30, the government plans their budgets for this time period. The Fiscal year of 2001, for example, is the fiscal year which ends in 2001. |
| Freedom of Information Act | Passed in 1996, this requires federal government agencies to make information available to the public. |
| Honeymoon | The period where Congress is more receptive to the president, and the president is generally approved of. This occurs directly after the presidential inauguration. |
| Imperial presidency | The belif that the President is gaining more and more power (that exceeds constitutional authority) and as such is gaining unfair control of the government. |
| Impoundment | The power of the President to instruct agencies to NOT spend money allocated to them in their budget. |
| Independent agencies | Agencies in the executive branch not under direct presidential control- in order to remove heads of these agencies they must have committed some offense. |
| Inflation | When the value of money decreases. |
| Interest rate | The percentage (of debt) rate which is charged per year, and which increases the amount owed. |
| Iron triangle | The relationship between governmental agencies, congress and the president, which, working together, implement policy. |
| Issue network | Who is involved in the policies of a certain issue- congress member, interest group, agency, etc. |
| Lame duck | An official who will not hold office in the next term, and who as a result often has much less influence. |
| Line item veto | The power of the President to veto certain aspects of a bill. |
| Litmus test | A test which potential nominees must "pass" to be nominated- they must agree with nominators on key issues to receive the nomination. |
| Mandatory spending | Spending required by law, such as food stamp programs. |
| Monetary policy | The way that monetary officials promote economic health in a nation |
| Office of Management and Budget (OMB) | A governmental agencies which is responsible for drafting the budget. |
| Pardon | The power of the president to forgive people of offenses under Federal Law. |
| Patronage | When an official has the power to appointments, often based on loyalty/ agreement on certain issues. |
| Pocket veto | When Congress is not in session, if the president ignores a bill for more than ten days it is automatically vetoed. (However, if Congress is in session, then the bill is made law.) |
| Pork barrel spending | High-cost bills, often passed in a group. |
| Recession | An "economic downturn" where the economy devalues and or stagnates. |
| Red tape | Bureaucratic policies which make it difficult for things to be accomplished. |
| Schedule C job | A job which is based appointment, and which the holder is likely to loose when the presidency changes. Their job is based on a relationship between the appoint-er and and the appointee. |
| Surplus | When the government spends less money than it collects in taxes, and so there is left over money (surplus.) |
| Treaty | An international peace agreement, which the President has the power to negotiate, but which the Senate must ratify. |
| Veto | The power of the President to reject legislation passed by the Congress. The Congress can override a presidential veto by a 2/3 vote in both houses. |
| War Powers Resolution | A bill passed by Congress in response to the Vietnam War, which limits Presidential power in committing troops. It puts a time frame of 60 days on conflicts unless the Congress gives its approval for a longer conflict. |
| White House staff | Staff of the white house, whose sole purpose is to aide the President. When Republicans are in office the staff tends to be in a hierarchical structure, while when Democrats are in office, the structure tends to be more loose- like a circle. |
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