Executive Branch

Budget

Planned amount of money to be spent

What is the salary for Presidents?

$400,000 per year as well as money for expenses and travel

Recess

A break

What is the purpose of the groups who work within the executive branch of Virginia?

Administer laws, enforce laws, provide services, and regulate aspects of business and the economy

Chief Diplomat

Architect of foreign policy who deals with foreign countries/treaties and can appoint ambassadors.

Which groups work within the executive branch of Virginia?

Cabinet secretaries, agencies, commissions, and regulatory boards

What is the purpose of the executive branch?

Carry out the laws that the legislative branch passes

Chief of State (President)

Ceremonial head of the government who is the living symbol of the nation. He/she and greets foreign leaders and nobility.

Chief of State (Governor)

Ceremonial head of the government. The Governor is a symbol of Virginia.

What are the roles of the President?

Chief of State, Chief Executive, Chief Legislator, Commander in Chief, Chief Diplomat, Chief of Party, and Chief Citizen

What are the roles of the Governor?

Chief of State, Party Chief, Chief Legislator, Commander in Chief, and Chief Administrator

What are the gubernatorial responsibilities?

Create the state's biennial budget, make sure laws are carried out, represent the state, oversee all executive departments/agencies, remove/appoint state officials, and sign/suggest bills into laws.

Bureaucracy

Decision making made by non-elected officials

Independent agencies

Enforce laws and make regulations about specific issues. They are different from executive departments because they are independent of the President's control, but are controlled by a board or commission with members that may be elected (can't be removed) by the President.

Executive agencies

Enforce the laws when someone isn't following them

What are the powers of the President?

Execute law of the land (main job), call congress into special session, appointments, prepare the annual budget, and administer the federal bureaucracy

Call Congress to Special Session

For urgent situations, the President can call congress back from recess to vote on important matters.

Commander in Chief (Governor)

Head of The Virginia Defense force.

Commander in Chief (President)

Head of nation's armed forces who is in charge of the army/navy/air force and orders soldiers onto missions.

Chief Administrator

Head of the Executive Branch of Virginia's government.

Chief Executive

Head of the executive branch who carries out the nation's laws, as well as issues executive orders and appoints officials.

What is influencing policymaking in the executive branch?

How the chief executive interacts with legislators, executive departments, executive agencies, and citizens to influence law making.

Party Chief

Leader of the political party that controls the executive branch.

What other positions are elected in the Virginia executive branch?

Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General

Cabinet

Made up of executive department heads, which is a group of presidential advisors who help the president make important decisions on how the laws should be carried out. Also, the Governor relies on them for advice, and they help to head state departments.

Administer

Manage or be responsible for running

What are the qualifications of becoming a Governor?

Must be at least 30 years of age, a citizen of the US, a resident of VA, and a registered voter at least 4 years before the election in VA.

What are the qualifications of becoming a President?

Must be at least 35 years old, a native-born citizen, and a resident of the US for at least 14 years.

Appealing directly to the people

Occasionally, the President may make a television speech directly to his constituents to persuade them to contact their representatives and ask them to vote for the new legislation.

Who works the most in the executive branch?

Ordinary people who do the day-to-day activities that need to be done in the executive branch.

Chief of Party

Political party leader who controls the executive branch and helps unite his/her party by raising money and supporting party members in campaigns.

Chief Legislator (Governor)

Proposer of the Virginia's legislative agenda.

Chief Legislator (President)

Proposes legislation such as the State of the Union Address, can approve/veto legislation, and prepares the federal budget.

In what ways does the Executive Branch influence policymaking?

Proposing legislation in an annual speech to congress, appealing directly to the people, approving/vetoing legislation, and appointing officials who carry out laws

Attorney General

Provides legal interests/services to VA and has 4 year terms. The qualifications are that you must be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the US, and have a license to practice laws in VA for at least 5 years before the election.

Gubernatorial

Relating to a state Governor

Policymaking

Relating to or involving the making of laws or policy (course of action)

Chief Citizen

Representative of ALL the people.

Executive Order

Rule or order issued by the President to the executive branch that has the force of the law

Lieutenant Governor

Serves as the President of the VA Senate, is 1st in the line of succession to the Governor, and has 4 year terms. The qualifications are the same as the Governor.

What has happened to the presidential power in years since the Constitution was ratified?

The 22nd amendment limits each president to two elected terms (4 year terms) in office, of a maximum of 10 years if presidency began during another president's term.

What is the system in which the President and Vice President is elected?

The Electoral College System in which the candidate must have 270 out of 538 electoral votes to win

Who heads the executive branch?

The President

Appointments

The President appoints heads of executive agencies, federal court judges, ambassadors, and cabinet officers.

Approving or vetoing legislation

The President can shape policy by approving laws he agrees with or vetoing laws that he does not want passed. He can also call special sessions of Congress.

Administer the Federal Bureaucracy

The President is the head of all the executive departments/agencies.

Execute the Law of the Land

The President makes sure the laws Congress make are being followed. The cabinet, departments, agencies, and regulatory groups (all part of the Federal Bureaucracy) help the President carry out those laws.

Prepare the Annual Budget

The President plans how much federal money to spend on certain things and sends it to congress for them to approve or not.

Proposing legislation in an annual speech to congress

The President uses the annual State of the Union Address to describe his administration's goals for the upcoming year.

Who exercises executive power in Virginia?

The VA Governor

Departments

The main organizations in the executive branch with smaller agencies that do smaller jobs. There are 15 executive departments that mostly enforce laws and make regulations about education, transportation, defense, or energy.

Appointing officials who carry out laws

The president can further his party's legislative agenda by appointing officials that have the same opinions.

Regulations

The rules the executive branch makes about how the laws will be carried out

What is an important fact about the Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General?

They are elected separately from the Governor. This means they could be different political parties.

Secretaries

They make up the President's cabinet and head each executive department except the Department of Justice (led by an Attorney General).

Execute

To carry out or put into effect

What is an important fact about the executive branch?

While members of the executive branch may not actually introduce legislation, they are easily involved in shaping public policy and getting new laws passed.