Chpt 5 Presidency & Chpt 7 Bureaucracy

22nd Amendment

Limits the president to two terms.

Ambassadors

Official representatives to foreign governments

Approval Ratings

The percentage of survey respondents who say that they "approve" or "strongly approve" of the way the president is doing his job.

Articles of Impeachment

charges against the president during an impeachment

Balanced Ticket

The selection of a running mate (VP) who brings diversity of ideology, geographic region, age, gender, race, or ethnicity to the slate

Bully Pulpit

The president's use of his prestige and visibility to guide or enthuse the American public

Cabinet

A group of advisers to the president.

Chief of Staff

The head of the White House staff.

Commander in Chief

The role of the president as the supreme commander of the military forces of the United States and of the state National Guard units when they are called into federal service

Emergency Powers

Inherent powers exercised by the president during a period of national crisis.

Executive Agreement

An agreement between the president and the leader of another country in effect during his administration; not subject to Congressional approval.

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

a collection of offices within the White House organization designed mainly to provide information to the president

Executive Order

A rule issued by the president that has the force of law

Executive Privilege

the privilege, claimed by the president for the executive branch of the US government, of withholding information in the public interest.

Formal (Expressed) Powers

presidential powers enumerated in the Constitution

Honeymoon Period

a time early in a new president's administration characterized by optimistic approval by the public

Impeachment

An action by the House of Representatives to accuse the president, vice president, or other civil officers of the United States of committing "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Imperial Presidency

a U.S. presidency that is characterized by greater power than the Constitution allows.

Informal (Inherent) Powers

powers not explicit in the Constitution but needed to carry out the enumerated powers (stated powers) in the Constitution

National Security Advisor

the director of the National Security Council (NSC)

National Security Council (NSC)

An agency in the Executive Office of the President that advises the president on national security

Office of Management and Budget

The office that creates the president's annual budget.

Pocket Veto

A veto taking place when Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting a bill to the president, who simply lets it die by neither signing nor vetoing it.

Press Secretary

the president's spokesperson to the media

Rally 'Round the Flag Effect

peaks in presidential approval ratings during short-term military action

Signing Statement

A written declaration that a president may make when signing a bill into law.

Statutory Powers

powers explicitly granted to presidents by congressional action

Take Care Clause

The constitutional basis for inherent powers, which states that the president "shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."

Veto

Chief executive's power to reject a bill passed by a legislature

Watergate

The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under the threat of impeachment.

White House Counsel

the president's lawyer

White House Office

The personal office of the president, which tends to presidential political needs and manages the media.

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

New Deal agency that helped create jobs for those who needed them. It created around 8.5 million jobs working on bridges, roads, and buildings.

Administrative Adjudication

The process by which agencies resolve disputes over the implementation of their administrative rules

Administrative Discretion

Authority given by Congress to the Federal bureaucracy to use reasonable judgment in implementing the laws.

Administrative Rule Making

When an independent commission/agency fills in the details of a vague law by formulating, proposing, and approving rules, regulations, and standards that will be enforced to implement the policy.

Appropriation Law

a law that gives bureaucracies and other government entities the legal authority to spend money

Authorization Law

a law that provides the plan of action to address a given social concern and identifies the executive branch unit that will put the plan into effect

Bureaucracy

A large, complex organization composed of appointed officials

Bureaucratic Structure

An organizational structure with formal division of labor, hierarchy, and standardization of work procedures

Bureaucrats

government officials

Civil Servants

employees of bureaucratic agencies within the government

Conflict of Interest

a conflict between self-interest and professional obligation

Congressional Oversight of Bureaucracy

Congress acting in its capacity to monitor and restrain regulatory agencies as part of its Constitutional checks and balances

Contracting-out

government hiring a private organization to deliver a public program or service

Departments

The biggest units of the executive branch, covering a broad area of government responsibility. The heads of the departments, or secretaries, form the president's cabinet.

Discretionary Authority

The ability to make decisions that have the effect of policy.

Government Corporation

a business owned and operated by the federal government

Independent Administrative Agency

an executive branch unit created by Congress and the president that is responsible for a narrowly defined function and whose structure is intended to protect it from partisan politics

Independent Regulatory Commission

A government agency with responsibility for making and enforcing rules to protect the public interest in some sector of the economy and for judging disputes over these rules.

Inspectors General

political appointees who work within a government agency to ensure the integrity of public service by investigating allegations of misconduct by bureaucrats

Merit-based Civil Service

A personal system in which bureaucrats are hired on the basis of principles of competence, equal opportunity (open competition), and political neutrality; once hired, these public servants have job protection

Patronage System

AKA Spoils System. Filling government bureaucracy based on connections & political favors not merit (cronyism).

Plum Book

lists top federal jobs available for direct presidential appointment, often with Senate confirmation.

Politics-Administration Dichotomy

the concept that elected government officials, who are accountable to the voters, create and approve public policy, and then competent, politically neutral bureaucrats implement the public policy

Red Tape

complex bureaucratic rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done; slow and inefficient bureaucracy

Regulations

Rules created and enforced by an authority.

Representative Bureaucracy

The idea is that public agencies that reflect the diversity of the communities they serve will be more effective.

Senior Executive Service (SES)

Top-level career civil servants who qualify through a competitive process to receive higher salaries than their peers but who can be assigned or transferred by order of the president.

Shadow Bureaucrats

people hired and paid by private for-profit and nonprofit organizations that implement public policy through a government contract

Sunset Clause

clause in a law that establishes a built in termination date unless otherwise extended by a new law

Sunshine Laws

legislation opening the process of bureaucratic policymaking to the public

Whistleblower

an employee who exposes unethical or illegal conduct within the federal government or one of its contractors