Key Terms Exam 3 Chapter 13 The Presidency 10 21 2014 Caucus political A normally closed political party business meeting of citizens or law makers to select candidates elect officers plan strategy or make decisions regarding legislative matters Expressed powers Specific powers granted by the constitution to congress and to the president Delegated powers Constitutional powers that are assigned to one governmental agency but that are exercised by another agency with the express permission of the first Inherent powers Powers claimed by a president that are not expressed in the constitution but are inferred from it Commander in Chief The role of the president as commander of the national military and the state National Guard units when called into service War Powers Resolution A resolution of Congress that the president can send troops into action abroad only by authorization of Congress or if American troops are already under attack or serious threat Executive Agreement An agreement made between the president and another country that has the force of a treaty but does not require the Senate s advice and consent Executive Privilege The claim that confidential communications between a president and close advisers should not be revealed without the consent of the president Veto The president s constitutional power to turn down acts of Congress A presidential veto may be overridden by a 2 3 vote of each house of Congress Pocket Veto A presidential veto that is automatically triggered if the president does not act on a given piece of legislation passed during the final 10 days of a legislative session Legislative Initiative The presidents inherent power to bring a legislative agenda before Congress Executive Order A rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect and formal status of legislation Cabinet The secretaries or chief administrators or the major departments of the federal government Cabinet secretaries are appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate National Security Council NSC A presidential foreign policy advisory council composed of the president vice president secretary of state secretary of defense and other officials invited by the president White House staff Analysts and advisers to the president each of whom is often given the title special assistant Kitchen Cabinet An informal group of advisers to whom the president turns for counsel and guidance Members of the official cabinet may or may not also be members of the Kitchen Cabinet Executive Office of the President EOP The permanent agencies that perform defined management tasks for the president Created in 1939 the EOP includes the OMB the CEA the NSC and other agencies Signing Statements Announcements made by the president when signing bills into law often presenting the president s interpretation of the law Bureaucracy The complex structure of offices tasks rules and principles of organizat4ion that are employed by all large scale institutions to coordinate the work of their personnel Implementation The efforts of departments and agencies to translate laws into specific bureaucratic rules and actions Merit System A product of civil service reform in which appointees to positions in public bureaucracies must objectively be deemed qualified for those positions Department The largest subunit of the executive branch The secretaries of the 15 departments form the Cabinet Independent Agency Agency that is not part of a cabinet department Government corporation Government agency that performs a service normally provided by the private sector Chapter 14 Bureaucracy in a Democracy Regulatory Agency A department bureau or independent agency whose primary mission is to impose limits restrictions or other obligations on the conduct of individuals or companies in the private sector Iron triangle The stables cooperative relationship that often develops among a congressional committee an administrative agency and one or more supportive interest groups Not all these relationships are triangular but the iron triangle is the most typical Fiscal Policy The government s use of taxing monetary and spending powers to manipulate the economy Federal Reserve System A system of 12 Federal Reserve Banks that facilitates the exchanges of cash checks and credit regulates member banks and uses monetary policies to fight inflation and deflation Revenue Agency An agency responsible for collecting taxes Examples include the internal Revenue Service for income taxes the US Customs Service for tariffs and other taxes on imported goods and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives for collection of taxes on the sale of those particular products Devolution A policy to remove a program from one level of government by delegating it or passing it down to a lower level of government such as from the national government to the state and local governments Privatization The transfer of all or part of a program from the public sector to the private sector Executive Privilege The claim that confidential communications between a president and close advisers should not be reveled without the consent of the president Oversight The effort by Congress through hearings investigations and other techniques to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies Chapter 15 The Federal Courts Criminal law The branch of law that regulates the conduct of individuals defines crimes and specifies punishments for criminal acts Plaintiff The individual or organization that brings a complaint in Defendant The one against whom a complaint is brought in a Civil law The branch of law that deals with disputes that do not court criminal or civil case involve criminal penalties Precedent Prior case whose principles are used by judges as the basis for their decision in a present case Stare Decisis Literally let the decision stand The doctrine that a previous decision by a court applies as a precedent in similar cases until that decision is overruled Trial court the first court to hear a criminal or civil case Court of Appeals A court that hears appeals of trial court decisions Supreme Court The highest court in a particular state or in the US This court primarily serves an appellate function Plea bargain A negotiated agreement in a criminal case in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty in return for the state s agreement to reduce the severity of the criminal charge of prison sentence the defendant is facing Jurisdiction The sphere
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