| What is administrative law? | The body of law created by executive agencies with the purpose of refining general law passed in legislation. |
| What is divided government? | A government in which the president is from a different party than the majority of Congress. |
| What is an executive agreement? | An agreement between the United States and one or more foreign countries. Because it is not a formal treaty, it does not need Senate approval. |
| What is an executive order? | An official means by which the president can instruct federal agencies on how to execute the laws passed by Congress. |
| What is 'going public''? | Action taken by a president to communicate directly with the people, usually through a press conference, radio broadcast, or televised speech, in order to influence public opinion and put pressure on Congress. |
| What is impeachment? | Process by which the House of Representatives formally charges a federal government official with ''Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.'' |
| What is a line-item veto? | A partial veto that allows the executive to strike specific passages from a given bill. |
| What is a mixed presidential system? | A form of democracy in which the executive is elected independently and shares responsibility for the government with the legislature. |
| What is parliamentary democracy? | A form of democracy in which the executive is elected by the legislature and government is responsible to the legislature. |
| What is a pocket veto? | A veto that occurs automatically if a president does not sign a bill for 10 days after passage in Congress and Congress has adjourned during that 10-day period. |
| What is a presidential system? | A form of democracy in which the executive is elected independently and the government is not responsible to the legislature. |
| What is a signing statement? | A public statement written by the president and attached to a particular bill to outline the president's interpretation of the legislation. |
| What is a special prosecutor? | Independent, private-sector counsel hired by Congress to investigate government officials. |
| What is the spoils system? | The practice of rewarding loyal partisans with government positions after they demonstrate their support during an election. |
| What is unified government? | A government in which the president is from the same party as the majority in Congress. |
| What is a veto threat? | A public statement issued by the president declaring that if Congress passes a particular bill that the president dislikes it will be ultimately vetoed. |
| What is advice and consent? | Terms in the Constitution describing the U.S. Senate's role in appointments to the federal courts and executive offices |
| What is 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. |
| What is the cabinet? | An advisory group selected by the president to aid in making decisions. The cabinet includes the heads of 15 executive departments and others named by the president. |
| What is the chief diplomat? | The role of the president in recognizing foreign governments, making treaties, and effecting executive agreements. |
| What is the chief executive? | The role of the president as head of the executive branch of the government. |
| What is the chief legislator? | The role of the president in influencing the making of laws. |
| Who is the chief of staff? | The person who is named to direct the White House Office and advise the president. |
| What is 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. |
| What is the Commander-in-Chief power? | 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. |
| What are constitutional powers (of the president)? | A power vested in the president by Article II of the Constitution. |
| What is diplomatic recognition? | The formal acknowledgment of a foreign government as legitimate. |
| What are emergency powers? | Inherent powers exercised by the president during a period of national crisis. |
| What is the Executive Office of the President (EOP)? | An organization established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to assist the president in carrying out major duties. |
| What is executive privilege? | The right of executive officials to withhold information from or refuse to appear before a legislative committee. |
| What are expressed powers (of the president)? | A power of the president that is expressly written into the Constitution or into statutory law. |
| What is the Federal Register? | A publication of the U.S. government that prints executive orders, rules, and regulations. |
| What is the head of state power? | The role of the president as ceremonial head of the government. |
| What are inherent powers (of the president)? | Powers 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. |
| What is the kitchen cabinet? | The informal advisers to the president. |
| What is the National Security Council (NSC)? | An agency in the Executive Office of the President that advises the president on national security. |
| What is the 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. |
| What is a 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. |
| What is patronage? | The practice of rewarding faithful party workers and followers with government employment and contracts. |
| What is the permanent campaign? | A coordinated and planned strategy carried out by the White House to increase the president's popularity and authority |
| What is a reprieve? | A formal postponement of the execution of a sentence imposed by a court of law. |
| What is the 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. |
| Define statutory powers (of the president). | A power created for the president through laws enacted by Congress. |
| What is the Twelfth Amendment? | An amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1804, that specifies the separate election of the president and vice president by the electoral college. |
| What is the 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. |
| What is the veto power? | The formal power of the president to reject bulls passed by both houses of Congress. A veto can be overridden by a two third vote in each house. |
| What is the War Powers Resolution? | A law passed in 1973 spelling out the conditions under which the president can commit troops without congressional approval. |
| What is the Washington community? | Individuals regularly involved with politics in Washington, D.C. |
| What is the White House Office? | The personal office of the president, which tends to presidential political needs and manages the media. |
| What was the Brownlow Report? | Report issued in 1937 by the President's Committee on Administrative Management that likened the president to the chief executive officer of a large corporation and concluded that the president needed a professional staff. |
| What is central clearance? | Review of all executive branch testimony, reports, and draft legislation by the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that each communication to Congress is in accordance with the president's program. |
| What is detailed staff? | staff loaned to the president from other government agencies |
| What are enrolled bills? | A bill that has been passed by both the Senate and the House and has been sent to the president for approval. |
| What is a gag rule? | An executive order prohibiting federal employees from communicating directly with Congress |
| What is gridlock? | A legistlative ''traffic jam'' often precipitated by divided government. Gridlock occurs when president confront opposition-controlled Congresses with policy preferences and political stakes that are in direct competition with their own and those of their party. Neither side is willing to compromise, the government accomplishes little, and federal operations may even come to a halt. |
| What is the honeymoon period? | The Presidential ''honeymoon'' is the short period after a President is inaugurated when the opposition party refrains from attack, Congress is inclined to support some of the President's initiatives, and the President receives high public approval ratings. Within a month or two partisan attacks generally resume and the honeymoon period ends. |
| What is the Take Care Clause? | The Provision of Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution: ''The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.'' |
| What is the unitary executive doctrine? | When a president claims prerogative to attach singing statements to bills and asserts his/her right to modify implementation or ignore altogether provisions of a new law that encroaches on his/her constitutional prerogatives as the ''chief executive'' or as commander in chief. |