Gov Chapters 12, 13, and 24
Terms
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- chief of state
- The person who is named to direct the White House Office and advise the president.
- Chief Diplomat
- The role of the president in recognizing foreign governments, making treaties, and effecting executive agreements.
- Iron Triangle
- The three-way alliance among legislators, bureaucrats, and interest groups to make or preserve policies that benefit their respective interests.
- formal powers
- Legal powers granted to the governor by constitution or statute. Powers of this type, when exercised by the U.S. president, are called expressed powers.
- Chief of Staff
- The person who is named to direct the White House Office and advise the president.
- Monopolistic Model
- A model of bureaucracy that compares bureaucracies to monopolistic business firms. Lack of competition in either circumstance leads to inefficient and costly operations.
- Veto Message
- The president's formal explanation of a veto when legislation is returned to Congress.
- White House Office
- The personal office of the president, which tends to presidential political needs and manages the media.
- Pardon
- A release from the punishment for or legal consequences of a crime; a pardon can be granted by the president before or after a conviction.
- Diplomatic Recognition
- The formal acknowledgment of a foreign government as legitimate.
- Kitchen Cabinet
- The informal advisers to the president.
- indictment
- A formal accusation issued by a grand jury against a party charged with a crime when the jury determines that there is sufficient evidence to bring the accused to trial.
- Patronage
- The practice of rewarding faithful party workers and followers with government employment and contracts.
- Merit System
- The selection, retention, and promotion of government employees on the basis of competitive examinations.
- Reprieve
- A formal postponement of the execution of a sentence imposed by a court of law.
- administrative law
- Rules and regulations written by administrators to implement laws. The effectiveness of a law is often determined by how the corresponding administrative law is written.
- Government Corporation
- An agency of government that administers a quasi-business enterprise. These corporations are used when activities are primarily commercial.
- informal powers
- Powers not directly granted by law. The governor's informal powers may follow from powers granted by law but may also come from the governor's persuasive abilities, which are affected by the governor's personality, popularity, and political support.
- Appointment Power
- The authority vested in the president to fill a government office or position. Positions filled by presidential appointment include those in the executive branch and the federal judiciary, commissioned officers in the armed forces, and members of the independent regulatory commissions.
- cabinet system
- At the state government level, a form of executive organization that allows the governor to appoint and remove top-level administrators, giving the governor more control over the administration.
- Inherent Power
- A power of the president derived from the statements in the Constitution that "the executive Power shall be vested in a President" and that the president should "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"; defined through practice rather than through law.
- Washington Community
- Individuals regularly involved with politics in Washington, D.C.
- elective accountability
- A condition in which officials are directly accountable to the voters for their actions.
- threat to veto
- An informal power by which a state governor (or the U.S. president) threatens to veto legislation so as to affect the content of the legislation while it is still in the legislature.
- Enabling Legislation
- A statute enacted by Congress that authorizes the creation of an administrative agency and specifies the name, purpose,
- Emergency Power
- An inherent power exercised by the president during a period of national crisis.
- Civil Service Commission
- The initial central personnel agency of the national government; created in 1883.
- Privatization
- The replacement of government services with services provided by private firms.
- Pendleton Act (Civil Service Reform Act)
- An act that established the principle of employment on the basis of merit and created the Civil Service Commission to administer the personnel service.
- Whistleblower
- Someone who brings to public attention gross governmental inefficiency or an illegal action.
- Statutory Power
- A power created for the president through laws enacted by Congress.
- attorney general's opinion
- In Texas and other states, an interpretation of the state's constitution or laws by the state attorney general. Officials may request such opinions, and although the opinions are not legally binding, they are usually followed.
- Constitutional Power
- A power vested in the president by Article II of the Constitution.
- Chief Legislator
- The role of the president in influencing the making of laws.
- Government in the Sunshine Act
- A law that requires all committee-directed federal agencies to conduct their business regularly in public session.
- Civil Service
- A collective term for the body of employees working for the government. Generally, civil service is understood to apply to all those who gain government employment through a merit system.
- iron Texas star
- The Texas version of the iron triangle. A policymaking coalition that includes interest groups; the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house; standing committees of the legislature; the governor; and administrators, boards, and commissions.
- ombudsperson
- An official who hears and investigates complaints by private individuals against public officials or agencies. The original word—ombudsman— is Swedish and means "commissioner."
- Executive Office of the President (EOP)
- An organization established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to assist the president in carrying out major duties.
- open-records law
- A law requiring that records of all government proceedings and decisions be available to the public.
- Signing Statement
- A written declaration that a president may make when signing a bill into law. Usually, such statements point out sections of the law that the president deems unconstitutional.
- Independent Executive Agency
- A federal agency that is not part of a cabinet department but reports directly to the president.
- Weberian Model
- A model of bureaucracy developed by the German sociologist Max Weber, who viewed bureaucracies as rational, hierarchical organizations in which decisions are based on logical reasoning.
- Executive Agreement
- An international agreement made by the president, without senatorial ratification, with the head of a foreign state.
- clemency
- Relief from criminal punishment granted by an executive. In Texas, the power of the governor to grant clemency is strictly limited.
- open-meetings law
- A law that requires meetings of government decisionmaking bodies to be open to public scrutiny (with some exceptions).
- State of the Union Message
- An annual message to Congress in which the president proposes a legislative program. The message is addressed not only to Congress but also to the American people and to the world.
- Bureaucracy
- A large organization that is structured hierarchically to carry out specific functions.
- Chief Executive
- The role of the president as head of the executive branch of the government.
- War Powers Resolution
- A law passed in 1973 spelling out the conditions under which the president can commit troops without congressional approval.
- Expressed Power
- A power of the president that is expressly written into the Constitution or into statutory law.
- Independent Regulatory Agency
- An agency outside the major executive departments charged with making and implementing rules and regulations.
- Acquisitive Model
- A model of bureaucracy that views top level bureaucrats as seeking to expand the size of their budgets and staffs to gain greater power.
- Permanent School Fund
- In Texas, a fund that provides support to the public school system. Leases, rents, and royalties from designated public school land are deposited into the fund.
- Capture
- The act by which an industry being regulated by a government agency gains direct or indirect control over agency personnel and decision makers.
- clientele
- Persons represented by a government agency or a politician.
- boards and commissions
- In Texas, bodies consisting of three to eighteen members that supervise most state agencies
- Cabinet Department
- One of the fifteen departments of the executive branch (State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Energy, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs).
- adjutant general
- The principal staff officer of an army, who passes communications to the commanding general and distributes the general's orders to subordinates. In the example of the Texas National Guard and Texas State Guard, the "commanding general" is the governor. Adjutant comes from a Latin word meaning "helper."
- Line Organization
- In the federal government, an administrative unit that is directly accountable to the president.
- Pocket Veto
- A special veto exercised by the chief executive after a legislative body has adjourned. Bills not signed by the chief executive die after a specified period of time. If Congress wishes to reconsider such a bill, it must be reintroduced in the following session of Congress.
- Cabinet
- An advisory group selected by the president to aid in making decisions. The cabinet includes the heads of fifteen executive departments and others named by the president.
- Executive Order
- A rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect of law. Executive orders can implement and give administrative effect to provisions in the Constitution, to treaties, and to statutes.
- Federal Register
- A publication of the U.S. government that prints executive orders, rules, and regulations.
- 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."
- Issue Network
- A group of individuals or organizations— which may consist of legislators and legislative staff members, interest group leaders, bureaucrats, the media, scholars, and other experts—that supports a particular policy position on a given issue.
- message power
- The ability of a governor (or a U.S. president) to focus the attention of the press, legislators, and citizens on legislative proposals that he or she considers important. The visibility of the office gives the chief executive instant public attention.
- Twenty-fifth Amendment
- A 1967 amendment to the Constitution that establishes procedures for filling presidential and vice presidential vacancies and makes provisions for presidential disability.
- Head of State
- The role of the president as ceremonial head of the government.
- blue-ribbon commission
- A commission composed of public personalities or authorities on the subject that is being considered. In Texas, such a commission may have both fact-finding and recommending authority.
- Executive Privilege
- The right of executive officials to withhold information from or to refuse to appear before a legislative committee.
- revolving door
- The interchange of employees between the legislature, government agencies, and related private special interest groups.
- National Security Council (NSC)
- An agency in the Executive Office of the President that advises the president on national security.
- Administrative Agency
- A federal, state, or local government unit established to perform a specific function. Administrative agencies are created and authorized by legislative bodies to administer and enforce specific laws.
- Line-Item Veto
- The power of an executive to veto individual lines or items within a piece of legislation without vetoing the entire bill.
- Commander in Chief
- The role of the president as supreme commander of the military forces of the United States and of the state National Guard units when they are called into federal service
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- A division of the Executive Office of the President. The OMB assists the president in preparing the annual budget, clearing and coordinating departmental agency budgets, and supervising the administration of the federal budget.
- Spoils System
- The awarding of government jobs to political supporters and friends.
- presession bargaining
- In Texas and other states, negotiation that lets the governor and legislative leaders reach compromises on particular bills before the beginning of the legislative session. This usually ensures the passage of the bills.
- Sunset Legislation
- Laws requiring that existing programs be reviewed regularly for their effectiveness and be terminated unless specifically extended as a result of these reviews.
- Advice and Consent
- Terms in the Constitution describing the U.S. Senate's power to review and approve treaties and presidential appointments.