The units initiate their own policies, rather than trying to arbitrate between specialist departments.

ECONOMIST: The cafeti��re theory of government

Lincoln and Seward, who tried to arbitrate between the two extremes, were determined to get the amendment through the House.

NEWYORKER: Union Man

Though many people vehemently disagree with particular decisions of the court, its legal power to strike down state or federal laws, to arbitrate disputes between the president and Congress, and between either of them and the states, remains unchallenged.

ECONOMIST: The politics of justice

Earlier this month, Mr Khatami had to set up a special committee to arbitrate a dispute between the Interior Ministry and a conservative watchdog group, after the group had rejected dozens of his closest allies in Tehran and Isfahan, many of them with revolutionary credentials.

ECONOMIST: Iran