American Government: The Presidency, Bureaucracy, and Judiciary

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering constitutional powers, presidential roles, federal bureaucracy structure and history, and the US judicial system based on lecture notes.

Expressed Powers

Powers that expressly belong to the President per the Constitution.

Delegated Powers

Powers that Congress has ceded to the President over time, or that the President has seized, primarily through the Congressional creation of executive agencies.

Inherent Powers

Rights, duties, and obligations of the President that the Supreme Court found are not explicitly listed in the Constitution, typically searched for during times of crisis.

Divided Government

A condition in which at least one chamber of Congress and the President are controlled by different political parties.

Unified Government

A condition where the same political party controls both Congress and the presidency.

Executive Agreement

A formal agreement negotiated between two countries that is not ratified by a legislature in the manner required for a treaty.

Executive Order

A presidential directive, typically justified under national security or war powers, used by the president as chief executive to compel the bureaucracy.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

An agency within the Executive Office of the President that assists in drafting the federal budget.

National Security Council (NSC)

An agency within the Executive Office of the President headed by the National Security Advisor and composed of State, Defense, CIA, military, and regional experts.

Bureaucracy (Max Weber definition)

Any organization that is hierarchically structured, where orders are given at the top by those responsible for the success of the organization and followed by those at the bottom.

Neutral Competence

The bureaucratic principle characterized by explicit rules rather than decisions governed by feelings.

Cabinet Departments

Major executive offices that are directly accountable to the President and represent the largest parts of the federal bureaucracy.

Independent Regulatory Commissions

Bipartisan commissions supposed to be outside direct government control or political influence, typically responsible for economic or other specialized regulation.

Government Corporations

Organizations run like a business that perform functions considered too large or unprofitable for private enterprise, such as the United States Post Office.

Spoils System

A practice, prominently used by President Andrew Jackson, where presidents appoint friends and campaign supporters to government jobs regardless of experience.

Pendleton Act of 1883

Civil service reform legislation that established the Civil Service Commission, covering roughly 60% of federal employees with exams and firing rules.

Hatch Act of 1939

A political activities act that prohibits bureaucrats from actively engaging in political campaigns.

Bureaucratic Culture

The accepted values and procedures of an organization within the federal bureaucracy.

Divestiture

A form of full privatization where government services are transferred, usually through sale, from government bureaucratic control into an entirely market-based private environment.

Judicial Review

The power claimed for the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison (1803) to review and invalidate acts of Congress and the states as unconstitutional.

Original Jurisdiction

The authority of a court to hear a case for the first time, held by US District Courts, state trial courts, and the Supreme Court in cases involving ambassadors or a State as a party.

Appellate Jurisdiction

The authority of a court to hear appeals of decisions from lower courts, held by appeals courts and the Supreme Court.

Senatorial Courtesy

A practice often invoked during the selection and confirmation of lower-level federal judges.

Stare Decisis

A Latin phrase meaning 'stand by things decided,' establishing that prior judicial decisions serve as precedent to guide future courts.

In Forma Pauperis

A procedure allowing an individual to file an appeal to the Supreme Court free of charge.

Rule of Four

The Supreme Court tradition requiring at least four justices to agree that a case has merit before it can be heard.

Writ of Certiorari

An official announcement by the Supreme Court stating that it will hear a case.

Amicus Curiae Brief

A brief submitted by 'friends of the Court' or outside interests that have a stake in the outcome of a case.

Attitudinal Model

A decision-making framework proposed by Segal and Spaeth positing that Supreme Court justices often vote along ideological lines.

Living Constitution

A constitutional interpretation framework (also known as judicial interpretivism or loose construction) that views the Constitution as possessing dynamic meaning capable of changing with society.

Strict Construction

A judicial framework that resolves constitutional questions using only the explicit words of the Constitution and their context at the time they were written.

Judicial Activism

Actions taken by a court that veer away from pure interpretation into making policy.