Name: ____________________________
Government Unit 6: The Executive Branch (Ch. 13 and 15)
Chapter 13 – The Presidency
1. In what ways did the 22nd and 25th Amendments alter the original institutional design of the presidency?
2. Outline the impeachment process.
3. List the formal constitutional powers of the presidency as found in Article II of the Constitution.
4. What are the multiple purposes of the president’s cabinet?
5. What is the purpose of the National Security Council and who are its members?
6. Describe the role of the Office of Management and Budget?
7. The president has no formal law-making power other than signing the bill into law. Why then is he often called the
“Chief Legislator”?
8. Describe the following:
a. veto (the “normal kind”):
b. pocket veto:
9. Using both your textbook and some outside research…
a. Define “Line-item veto”:
b. What are the main supporting arguments for line-item veto?
c. What are the main arguments against?
10. Why might a president choose to veto a bill or choose to veto it with a pocket v standard veto?
11. What is meant by the term “presidential coattails” and how effective are they?
12. How have various national crises impacted the presidency?
13. What limitations have been placed on the president’s role as Commander-in-Chief by the War Powers Act? Explain
the constitutional questions that surround this law?
14. Define “legislative veto”:
15. What patterns are evident in public approval of presidents throughout the 20th century?
16. What is the function of press secretary?
Chapter 15 – The Federal Bureaucracy
1. What are the main elements of the Weberian model of bureaucracies?
2. What is patronage?
3. Define the following important civil service legislation:
a. The Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883):
b. Hatch Act (1939/1993):
4. Compare and contrast the jobs in public bureaucracies and those in the private sector.
4. What is the specific function of the Office of Personnel Management?
5. Describe and give an example for each of the four basic types of agencies in the federal bureaucracy.
a. Cabinet Departments:
b. Independent Regulatory Commissions:
c. Government Corporations:
d. Independent Executive Agencies:
6. Summarize the each of the basic issues bureaucracies face when implementing policy (give an example of each form
the text):
a. Program Design:
b. Clarity:
c. Resources:
d. Administrative Routine (SOPs):
e. Disposition:
f. Fragmentation:
7. What are the basic arguments for and against privatization of government functions?
a. For:
b. Against:
8. Define “Command and Control Policy”:
9. Define “Incentive system”:
10. What are the basic arguments in favor of/against deregulation?
11. What are presidential “executive orders”?
a. (Not in the book) Where does the power to issue executive orders come from?
b. How can executive order power be a source of controversy?
12. How does Congress attempt to control the federal bureaucracy?
13. Define “iron triangle” and give an example.