executive function

Examples of executive function in the following topics:

• Executive Function and Control

  • Executive functions are involved in handling novel situations and regulating behavior; they mature and develop over time.
  • The executive system is a theoretical cognitive system that manages the processes of executive function.
  • The major frontal structures involved in executive function are:
  • Executive-function development corresponds to the development of the growing brain; as the processing capacity of the frontal lobes (and other interconnected regions) increases, the core executive functions emerge.
  • The different parts of the prefrontal cortex are vital to executive function.

• The Executive Departments

  • The executive departments are administrative organs in the executive branch of the federal government.
  • The executive departments of the United States federal government are executive organs that serve under direct presidential control and act in an advisory capacity to the president.
  • Executive departments are internally led by secretaries, who are also members of the president's Cabinet.
  • Executive departments are analogous to ministries in parliamentary governments, and carry out bureaucratic functions pertaining to domestic and foreign policy.
  • Executive secretaries are appointed by the president and play a significant role in carrying out governmental functions and advising the presidential administration on policy.

• Independent Agencies

  • Independent executive agencies operate as regulatory and service agencies to oversee federal government functions.
  • The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is an example of an executive agency, and acts as an outpost of the executive government to regulate communications technology and media in the U.S.
  • One notorious function of the FCC is to regulate decency on television.
  • Instead, these agencies are generally justified by acts of Congress designed to manage delineated government functions, such as the maintenance of infrastructure and regulation of commerce.
  • However, executive agencies have to remain nonpartisan.

• Management Areas: A Functional View

  • Organizational management is often approached by identifying business functions and assigning leadership to those functions.
  • Each of these different tasks, or functions, require management and alignment.
  • Functional management is focused on the execution of a specific organizational task within functional areas, through organizing and leading an organization's talent in a given field.
  • The manager shouldn't execute each specific task, but instead understand what is required to complete these tasks.
  • By looking at each functional area, and considering how it relates to broader functional areas, it becomes clear how management areas are divided from a functional perspective.

• The Oversight Function

  • The United States Congress has oversight of the Executive Branch and other U.S. federal agencies.
  • Congressional oversight refers to oversight by the United States Congress of the Executive Branch, including the numerous U.S. federal agencies.
  • The government's charter does not explicitly grant Congress the authority to conduct inquiries or investigations of the executive, to have access to records or materials held by the executive, or to issue subpoenas for documents or testimony from the executive.
  • There was little discussion of the power to oversee, review, or investigate executive activity at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 or later in the Federalist Papers, which argued in favor of ratification of the Constitution.
  • Some of the most publicized are the comparatively rare investigations by select committees into major scandals or executive branch operations gone awry.

• The Executive Office of the President

  • The Executive Office of the President (EOP) consists of the immediate and support staff of the President of the United States.
  • It absorbed most of the functions of the National Emergency Council.
  • New units within the EOP were created, some by statute, some by executive order of the president.
  • The staff of the Executive Office of the President is managed by the White House Chief of Staff.
  • Explain the functions of the different agencies associated with the Executive Office of the President and their histories

• Expanding Federal Power

  • A major part of Roosevelt's legacy is his conception of the executive branch as a source of regulatory powers for the "good" of the nation.
  • In his own words, Roosevelt claimed, "I did not usurp power, but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power."
  • Some of Roosevelt's most noteworthy legislative achievements—such as the Pure Food and Drug Act, the Hepburn Act, the Elkins Act, and his conservation laws—embody this concept of the executive branch as an expansive source of regulatory powers for the "good" of the nation.
  • To that end, by concentrating power in the executive and broadening the scope of federal regulatory power, Roosevelt was arguably attempting to create a modernized, Progressive United States that functioned seamlessly and in the better interests of the nation as a whole, rather than for local political authorities and wealthy interests.
  • Describe the means by which Roosevelt broadened the scope of executive power

• Cabinet Departments

  • The cabinet is the collection of top-ranking advisors in the executive branch of government, particularly executive department secretaries.
  • The Cabinet of the United States consists of the highest-ranking appointed officers in the executive branch of the federal government: the secretaries of each of the 15 executive departments.
  • Beneath the secretary, each executive department has a deputy secretary.
  • Most departments have several under secretaries, who preside over specific branches of the organization rather than being accountable for the functioning of the entire department, as the secretary and deputy secretary are.
  • In addition to the secretaries of the established executive departments, there are some cabinet-level officers who are the heads of independent executive agencies.

• The Executive Branch

  • The head of the Executive Branch is the President of the United States.
  • The executive branch consists of the president and those to whom the President's powers are delegated.
  • The vice president is the second-highest ranked executive official of the government.
  • While the Vice President's only constitutionally prescribed functions, aside from presidential succession, relate to his or her role as President of the Senate, the office is now commonly viewed as a member of the executive branch of the federal government.
  • The Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, who are generally the heads of the federal executive departments.

• A Typical Department Structure

  • Executive departments are organs of the executive branch of the federal government that carry out foreign and domestic administrative duties and are headed by members of the Cabinet.
  • Beneath the secretary, each executive department has a deputy secretary.
  • Most departments have several under secretaries, who preside over specific branches of the organization rather than being accountable for the functioning of the entire department, as the secretary and deputy secretary are.
  • The Department of Justice is typical of all executive departments in its hierarchical organization.
  • Describe the organizational structure of an executive department such as the Commerce Department