Chapter 7 and 8 Flashcards
President
The chief executive officer of the United
States, as established by Article II of the
U.S. Constitution.
Vice president
An officer created by Article II of the U.S. Constitution to preside over the U.S. Senate and to fill any vacancy in the office of president due to death, resignation, removal, or (since 1967) disability
Twenty-Second Amendment
Adopted in 1951; prevents presidents from serving more than two terms, or more than ten years if they came to office via the death, resignation, or removal of their predecessor.
Watergate
A scandal in the early 1970s involving a break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate office complex. The involvement of members of the Nixon administration and subsequent cover-up attempts led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation from office and jail sentences for some members of his administration.
Executive privilege
An implied presidential power that
allows the president to refuse to disclose information regarding confidential
conversations or national security to
Congress or the judiciary
U.S. v. Nixon (1974)
Supreme Court ruling on power of the president, holding that no absolute constitutional executive privilege allows a president to refuse to comply with a court order to produce information needed in a criminal trial.
Presidential Succession Act
A 1947 law enacted by Congress that
provides for the filling of any simultaneous vacancy of the presidency and vice
presidency.
Twenty-Fifth Amendment
Adopted in 1967 to establish procedures for filling vacancies in the office
of president and vice president as well
as providing for procedures to deal with
the disability of a president.
Cabinet
The formal body of presidential advisers
who head the fifteen executive departments. Presidents often add others to
this body of formal advisers.
League Of Nations
A multilateral diplomatic organization that existed from 1920-1946 that
sought, unsuccessfully, to prevent
future wars; the United States never
joined.
executive agreements
Formal international agreements entered
into by the president that do not require
the advice and consent of the U.S.
Senate.
Veto
The formal, constitutional authority of
the president to reject bills passed by
both houses of Congress, thus preventing them from becoming law without
further congressional action.
Pardon
An executive grant providing restoration
of all rights and privileges of citizenship
to a specific individual charged with or
convicted of a crime.
Inherent powers
Powers that belong to the president
because they can be inferred from the
Constitution.
First lady
The designation provided to the wife
of a president or, at the state level, of a
governor; no specific analogue exists
for a male spouse.
Executive Office of the President (EOP)
A mini-bureaucracy created in 1939 to
help the president oversee the executive branch bureaucracy.
Bully pulpit
The view that a major power of the presidency, albeit not one prescribed by the Constitution, is to draw attention to and generate support for particular positions.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
The office that prepares the president’s annual budget proposal, reviews the budget and programs of the executive departments, supplies economic forecasts, and conducts detailed analyses of proposed bills and agency rules.
Executive order
Rule or regulation issued by the
president that has the effect of law. All
executive orders must be published in
the Federal Register.
Signing statements
Occasional written comments attached
to a bill signed by the president.
Federal bureaucracy
The thousands of federal government
agencies and institutions that implement and administer federal laws and
programs.
Max Weber
German sociologist active in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
who articulated the hierarchical structure and near-mechanical functioning of
bureaucracies in complex societies.
spoils system
The firing of public-office holders of a
defeated political party to replace them
with loyalists of the newly elected party
Patronage
Jobs, grants, or other special favors
that are given as rewards to friends and
political allies for their support.
merit system
A system of employment based on
qualifications, test scores, and ability,
rather than party loyalty.
Pendleton Act
Reform measure that established the
principle of federal employment on the
basis of open, competitive exams and
created the Civil Service Commission.
Civil service system
The merit system by which many
federal bureaucrats are selected.
Sixteenth Amendment
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
that authorized Congress to enact a
national income tax.
World War 1
A global military conflict that took place
from 1914–1918 across Europe and its
overseas territories. The United States
militarily intervened from 1917–1918.
Great Depression
A severe global economic downturn marked by mass unemployment and poverty that began in the United States in 1929 and persisted to some degree until the end of the 1930s.
World War 2
A global military conflict that took place from 1939–1945 in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific region. The United States was formally involved in the war from 1941-1945.
