Government Term Study List
Executive Branch
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1. Chief of State-It is the role of the President performing ceremonial functions, as
the personal symbol of the nation. In this role he does things like throw out the
first baseball of the season, lights the national Christmas tree, etc.
2. Chief Executive-It is the role of the President when he enforces laws, federal
court decisions, and treaties signed by the United States. He appoints, with
Senate approval, high government officials to help him carry out this role. He
also can grant pardons, amnesty, and reprieves to people who have violated
laws.
3. Chief Administrator – It is the role of the President as the director of the huge
executive branch of the Federal Government. He directs the 2.7 million
bureaucrats who carry out the day-to-day government business. The president
works through the Department heads to do this. President is also under this role
the major framer of the nation’s yearly budget, appointing economic officials,
planning programs to lower unemployment or inflation or the national debt
when needed, etc.
4. Chief Diplomat - It is the role of the President as he directs foreign policy and
represents the United States in it’s relations with other countries.
5. Commander in Chief - It is the role of the President as leader of the nation’s
armed forces. He can commit troops to battle, make secret agreements with
other countries, set up military governments in conquered lands, call cease-fires,
etc.
6. Chief Legislator - It is the role of the President as he informs Congress about
the condition of the country and proposes laws and gives the annual State of the
Union Address as called for in the Constitution.
7. Chief of Party-It is the role of the President as head of his political party. In
this role he chooses the Vice President, tries to carry out his parties goals and
tries to get more of his parties people elected to offices.
8. Chief Citizen-It is the role of the President when he represents all the people of
the U.S., works for the public interest, and sets the standard as the moral leader
of the nation. President Clinton’s handling of this role caused his leadership to
be investigated by the Independent Council and the House Judiciary Committee
resulting in charges to be brought for impeachment. He was not convicted.
9. Presidential Qualifications-They are three criteria a person must meet
according to the Constitution to be eligible to be President of the United States.
They are 1.) be a natural-born citizen, 2.) be at least 35 years old, and 3.) be a
resident at least 14 years before taking office.
10. Presidential Term Limit-It is the maximum time criteria of two terms or ten
years to hold the top elected position in the United States.
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11. President-It is the top position of leadership in the United States Government.
Barack Obama is the current office holder.
12. Presidential Succession-It is the legal procedure by which government leaders
will take over the Presidency should the president die or is disabled. The order
of officials in line is first the Vice-President, second the Speaker of the House,
third the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, then the Secretary of each
government department in order of its creation.
13. Presidential Disability-It is the procedure given by the 25th Amendment for
declaring the President unable to perform his duties and allowing the VicePresident to be acting President.
14. Vice President-It is the position of the “just in case” the president dies or is
disabled or is removed from office. The holder of this office has two official
duties: to preside over the Senate and to help decide presidential disability and
assume the powers of the president if necessary. Recent holders of this position
have also functioned as presidential advisors.
Presidential Qualities
15. Informal Qualifications for Presidents-They are ingredients of leadership
expected to be found in Presidents of the United States. They are characteristics
such as honesty, integrity, charisma, sound judgment, competence, etc.
16. Rating Presidents-It is a system of evaluating the Presidents as to their record
of accomplishment or lack thereof. Generally they are ranked in order of great
to poor.
17. Poor Presidents-They are generally considered the worst of the United States
Chief Executives. They are James Buchanan, Warren Harding, Ulysses S.
Grant, etc.
18. Great Presidents-They are generally considered the best of the United States
chief executives. They are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham
Lincoln, etc.
19. Spoils System-It is where the political party that wins the election gives out
government jobs to its own party members. Andrew Jackson started this reward
process.
Page 392 Presidents Executive Powers
20. Inherent Powers-They are the powers of the government not expressly granted
by the Constitution, but belonging to it because of the fact it is a government.
The President exercises many of these powers.
21. “Fourth Branch of Government”-It is a phrase describing the mass media due
to their role in determining issues, events, and people in the public eye and what
politicians therefore must act on.
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22. Oath of Office – It is the president’s promise when he takes office to carry out
the duties of the position to his best effort and to respect and defend the
Constitution.
23. Executive Order-It is a rule or regulation issued by the President that has the
effect of law to carry out policies described in laws passed by Congress.
24. Ordinance Power – Inherent power of the President to issue necessary orders to
enforce and carry out the law.
25. Appointment and Removal Powers-It is the power given the President in the
Constitution allowing him, with the Senate’s consent, to chose people for the top
government jobs. The flip side of the coin is that if the President can hire then
he can fire such appointees.
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26. Treaty – A formal agreement between two or more sovereign nations.
27. Executive Agreements-They are binding agreements made by the president
with other countries, not needing Congressional approval.
28. Diplomacy-It is the national government’s political relations with other
countries. These relations include treaties, agreements, alliances, talks,
recognition, persona non grata, etc. The President leads in this area.
29. Foreign Policy-It is the nation’s political and economic goals as related to other
countries. It is also the means used to achieve these goals. The president leads
in this policy area.
30. Commander in Chief - It is the role of the President as leader of the nation’s
armed forces. He can commit troops to battle, make secret agreements with
other countries, set up military governments in conquered lands, call cease-fires,
etc.
31. War Powers Resolution – Toward the end of the Vietnam War Congress tried
to place limits on the President’s war making powers. The Act requires that the
President notify Congress within 48 hours after sending U.S. forces into action,
the combat must end within 60 days unless Congress extends it, and Congress
can end the combat sooner if it says so. The Constitutionality of this law is
disputed.
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32. Veto Power-It is the power of the President to reject legislation. This prevents
or at least delays the bill from becoming law.
33. Reprieve-It is a postponement of a criminal sentence imposed by a court of law.
34. Commutation-It is the President’s reduction of a criminal sentence imposed by
a court of law.
35. Pardon-It is the release of a prisoner from punishment before or after criminal
conviction.
36. Amnesty-It is a pardon to a large group of individuals, such as President
Carter’s pardon of Vietnam draft evaders.
Power and the American Presidents
37. Presidential Limitations-They are checks on the president’s powers by
Congress and the courts. Examples include the Congressional overriding of a
president’s veto, Congress having the “power of the purse,” Congressional
impeachment power, the War Powers act, Congressional appointment approval
power, the Court’s power of judicial review, and limits to the claim of executive
privilege.
38. Executive Privilege-It is the claimed right by presidents to refuse to appear
before, or withhold information from Congress on the grounds that revealing the
information in question may threaten national security.
39. Abuse of Presidential Power-It is the misuse of authority by the president.
President Nixon did this when he unsuccessfully claimed executive privilege to
cover up Watergate. President Clinton did this many times to cover up his many
scandals.
40. “Strong” Presidents-They are leaders who were in office during difficult times
and acted decisively. Each set a precedent for the executive branch handling a
certain activity. Some of these include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson,
Franklin Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.
Presidential Election and Electoral College Pages 367, 375, 384
41. Electoral College-It is the Constitution’s method for the election of the
President. It sets the number of electors of each state, based on the number of
each state’s Representatives and Senators in Congress. The winner of the
majority vote in this representative body wins the Presidency.
42. Electors-They are the real people voted for when citizens vote for President.
They promise to vote for their party’s candidate in the Electoral College, if he
wins their state in the election.
43. Aaron Burr-He was the running mate of Thomas Jefferson in the 1800
presidential election. He tried for the top spot after the tie vote in the Electoral
College balloting. He lost in the House vote and became Vice President. He
went on to such things as kill Alexander Hamilton in a duel, and be put on trial
for treason for trying to split off the southwest United States and set up a new
country which he would then rule.
44. Winner-Takes-All System-It is the method of giving the entire amount of a
state’s Electoral College votes to the winner of the state’s popular vote.
45. Thomas Jefferson-He didn’t like political parties in the 1780’s, but founded
one of the first in the 1790’s. He founded the Democrat-Republican party. The
1800 election resulted in a tie electoral college vote. After 36 ballots in the
House of Representatives he beat his intended Vice-President Aaron Burr who
tried for the top job. He became the third President of the U.S.
46. John Quincy Adams-He lost the popular vote and came in second in the
Electoral College vote in the 1824 election, yet became president. Because of
the lack of majority of Electoral College votes for the top candidate, the election
was decided by the House of Representatives. In the House vote, the supporters
of the third place Henry Clay gave their support to him so he ended up winning
the presidency.
47. Andrew Jackson-He was the top popular vote winner and winner of the most
Electoral College votes in the 1824 election. He lost in the House of
Representative’s vote. He then reworked the Democrat-Republican party
changing it into the Democrat Party and won the 1828 election.
48. Twelfth Amendment-It was the 1804 fix to the Constitution to prevent repeats
of the Jefferson/Burr tie vote in the Electoral College. It separated the elector’s
votes into one for President and one for Vice President.
49. Direct Election Plan-It is a reform plan for the Electoral College. This plan
eliminates the Electoral College and set the election of the president by saying
the candidate with the highest number of popular votes wins.
50. Proportional Plans-It is a reform plan for the Electoral College. This plan
keeps the Electoral College and distributes the electoral votes based on each
states ratio of the population. It eliminates the individual electors. In a close
election the loser could still become president under this plan.
51. District Plan-It is a reform plan for the Electoral College. This plan assigns one
electoral vote per congressional area, with the winner of the area receiving the
vote. The state winner gets two extra votes. In a close election the loser could
still become president under this plan.
52. Bonus Plan-It is a reform plan for the Electoral College. This plan keeps the
Electoral College as is, but assigns 102 extra electoral votes to the popular vote
winner. In this way the popular vote winner would always be the Electoral
College vote winner
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53. Bureaucracy-It is the large government organization which carries out the laws
and policies of elected government officials. It is organized by departments,
agencies, etc. staffed by civil servants.
54. Bureaucrat-It is the term used for people who work in structured hierarchical
organizations, such as governments.
Organization Structure of the Executive Branch
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55. Executive Office of the President (EOP)-They are the staff agencies and
advisors who help the President carry out his major duties. The White House
Office is one of these.
56. White House Office-It is the agency consisting of the President’s key aids and
their assisting staff located in the west wing of the Executive Mansion. They
have daily contact with the president and give him advice and help related to
problems needing the president’s attention. Their duties somewhat overlap with
the Cabinet, but their only responsibility is to the president not separate
government departments.
57. National Security Council-It is the group of advisors and staff which advise the
president about matters related to the safety and defense of the nation. They
have been especially helpful to each president during serious war crises.
58. Budget-It is the government’s spending plan and income estimates for each
year. The president leads in this area.
59. Fiscal Year – The twelve-month period for record keeping, budgeting and
business used by the National Government. It runs from October 1 to
September 30.
60. Office of Management and Budget-It is the bureau that assists the president in
preparing the proposed annual budget the president submits to Congress each
year. Once Congress has approved the finished budget this bureau puts it into
practice and sees that it is carried out correctly.
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61. Executive Departments-They are the major service organizations of the United
States government. They are directly accountable to the President and are
responsible for performing government functions. Some of them include:
Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Education, Defense, Interior, and Treasury.
62. Department of State-It is the department which deals with foreign affairs by
developing policy, negotiating treaties, protecting citizens abroad, etc.
63. Department of Justice-It is the department headed by the Attorney General. It
gives the President legal advice, enforces federal crime laws, runs the federal
prisons, etc.
64. Department of Interior-It is the department which supervises federally owned
land and national parks. It also supervises Native American matters through the
BIA.
65. Cabinet-It is the advisory group chosen by the President to assist decisionmaking. The traditional group includes department heads and EOP officials.
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66. Independent Executive Agencies-They are federal government agencies that
have a specific function. The agency head reports directly to the President.
Examples include the CIA, GSA, NSF, NASA, and the Federal Election
Commission.
67. Independent Regulatory Commissions-They are federal government
organizations that function to create and implement rules and adjust private
activity and protect the public interest. Examples include the Fed, SEC, FCC,
and the EEOC.
68. Government Corporations-They are businesses owned by the government.
Examples include the U.S. Postal Service, FDIC, TVA, and AMTRAK.
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69. Civil Service-It is the term used for most of the civilian employees of the
federal government and generally for those who obtained employment through
merit system.
70. Spoils System – The practice of giving offices and favors of government to
political supporters and friends. Andrew Jackson was notorious for this and
eventually the Civil Service was created to limit the practice.
Michigan Executive Branch
71. Secretary of State-It is the state of Michigan officer who records, certifies, and
files public documents such as election records. This official is responsible for
the agencies that title automobiles and issue drivers’ licenses. The official also
is the keeper of the state’s great seal.
72. Term Limits-They are the restrictions put on high Michigan officials to keep
them from being in office an overly length of time. In our state it is two terms
for the governor, Lt Governor, secretary of state, attorney general, etc.
73. Governor-It is the chief executive of the state of Michigan. He/she is
responsible for enforcing and administering the law along with many other
duties.
West Terms not fit Magruders
74. Impeachment-It is the charging of a high government official of a high crime or
misdemeanor. This has been done to a number of federal judges over the years
and two Presidents.
75. Employee Rights-They are laws and regulations protecting our nation’s labor
force. They include such basics as being paid for the work you perform, safe
labor conditions, and an equal opportunity to employment no matter your race,
color, nationality, religion, sex, or national origin.
76. Constituents-They are the people who elect government officials who are
served by government.
77. State of the Union Address-It is the President’s yearly message to Congress
about where we are as a nation. The President usually proposes his legislative
program in this message aimed not only at Congress, but also the American
people and the world.
78. Policy-It is the method or course of action adopted by a government for the
procedure in carrying out decisions. The president often sets the tone for this.
79. Impeachment-It is the charging of a high government official of a high crime or
misdemeanor. This has been done to a number of federal judges over the years
and two Presidents.