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Definition of mandate in English:

mandate

Pronunciation /ˈmanˌdāt/ /ˈmænˌdeɪt/

See synonyms for mandate

Translate mandate into Spanish

noun

  • 1An official order or commission to do something.

    ‘a mandate to seek the release of political prisoners’
    • ‘Even some local trade officials ignored the new mandates to recruit women.’
    • ‘Although my official mandate was to study Pakistani farmers, I was obliged to give equal attention to foresters.’
    • ‘The Human Rights Commission has the mandate to receive and investigate allegations of discrimination.’
    • ‘Cheng said the party had given the press a mandate to monitor local officials.’
    • ‘None of the 10 members of ASEAN sent officials with a mandate to commit governments to any trade pacts.’
    • ‘In October 2001, the EU Council of Ministers gave the commission a mandate to negotiate a revision of the convention.’
    • ‘How can it be free to seek the truth when its mandate is spelled out in the executive order that the president signed?’
    • ‘These are not proclamations, orders, or mandates.’
    • ‘In the next 12 weeks, carry out each of these mandates in the order you've arranged them.’
    • ‘Further, we demand a repeal of all previous executive orders and administrative mandates.’
    • ‘He said that the committee had received a clear mandate from the meeting to use all means at its disposal to force him to reverse his decision.’
    • ‘Last Sunday, he officially handed them the mandate to form a government.’
    • ‘The politicians promised to elevate this to the highest levels within Government and to seek a mandate as suggested.’
    • ‘However, we will not accept one job cut or any reduction in equipment and would seek a mandate for strike action should that be proposed.’
    • ‘‘The commission will decide how or whether the mandate will be addressed,’ he said.’
    • ‘Included in this is the mandate to the Prime Minister to set up an Anti-corruption Commission as speedily as possible.’
    • ‘He said he stressed to Mr Mandelson that a key issue for Ireland is the mandate given to the Commission by the EU member states in these negotiations.’
    • ‘Manitoba Conservation has the mandate to inspect all manure storage structures yearly and order any necessary repairs.’
    • ‘Well, let me ask you about that, because you're being very clear that there must be two separate appeals to the Security Council for a mandate.’
    • ‘The Festival has a mandate to deliver a program of international standing and excellence and this must be its priority.’
    instruction, directive, direction, decree, command, order, injunction, edict, charge, commission, bidding, warrant, ruling, ordinance, law, statute, fiat
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1Law A commission by which a party is entrusted to perform a service, especially without payment and with indemnity against loss by that party.
      ‘In two of the four cases the solicitors received signed mandates from the purported owners for the funds to be telegraphically transferred to a third party.’
      • ‘In carrying out its mandate, the Commission receives, analyses, and investigates individual petitions alleging violations of human rights.’
      • ‘A Call Center for tourist information is in the works, and tourist police have a mandate to provide service and protection for visitors.’
      • ‘Numerous service coverage mandates have also been introduced by some legislatures.’
      • ‘The commission will be obliged to refer to any other agencies where a case or a situation is presented to it that is not the direct mandate of the commission.’
    2. 1.2US Law An order from an appellate court to a lower court to take a specific action.
      • ‘He also put in place a process to carry out the Court's mandate.’
    3. 1.3A written authority enabling someone to carry out transactions on another's bank account.
      ‘A forged cheque is not a valid mandate, and the bank cannot debit the customer's account.’
      • ‘If that were right one would expect to see wives being independently advised before signing a typical mandate for a joint account.’
      • ‘He showed his value pretty quickly, pointing out that banks must have a legal mandate to debit someone's account.’
      • ‘When you fill in the application form for a joint account it will include a mandate giving you both the authority to access the account and the money in it.’
      • ‘If you have a friend or relative you completely trust, ask your bank to provide them with a third-party mandate.’
    4. 1.4historical A commission from the League of Nations to a member state to administer a territory.
      ‘the end of the British mandate in Palestine’
      • ‘For the next 25 years, Syria was governed by French colonial administrators under a mandate from the League of Nations.’
      • ‘Another category of dependent imperial territory was formed by League of Nations mandates.’
      • ‘After the war, Japan continued to rule the islands under a mandate from the League of Nations.’
      • ‘After the war the League of Nations gave Britain, Australia, and New Zealand a trustee mandate over the territory.’
      • ‘Britain extracted a mandate to run it from the League of Nations, forerunner of the United Nations.’

  • 2The authority to carry out a policy or course of action, regarded as given by the electorate to a candidate or party that is victorious in an election.

    ‘a sick leader living beyond his mandate’
    • ‘Newly elected ministers invariably choose to regard an election victory as conferring a mandate on their policies.’
    • ‘Perhaps politicians should seek a new mandate from the electorate if they are unable to fulfil their promises.’
    • ‘The ones who win and form the next government would thus have the mandate to pursue their policies and programmes.’
    • ‘Neither side of the policy divide believes that it can win a popular mandate for its policies and fight things out in an open and honest form.’
    • ‘No president for more than a century has assumed office with less of a popular mandate for his policies.’
    • ‘We will therefore go back to the electorate to renew our mandate with confidence.’
    • ‘The temptation must be enormous to ask the electorate for a fresh mandate, now that the latest opinion polls show he has enough support to be returned to power.’
    • ‘What's more, he will claim a mandate for every single policy he comes up with, even if they didn't appear in the election campaign.’
    • ‘Despite their mandate to serve their electorate, our representatives at the Commons are notoriously difficult to get hold of.’
    • ‘That's the kind of mandate election authorities need to do their job.’
    • ‘It simply provides that someone who changes his or her status in that kind of way needs to go and get a fresh mandate from the electorate.’
    • ‘He lacks the freedom that a directly elected mayor gains from their direct relationship with the electorate and their clear mandate.’
    • ‘In a general sense, therefore, action has not been linked to any policy mandate from the public.’
    • ‘He might take it as a national mandate to pursue the policy of truculent unilateralism.’
    • ‘Hopkins said the election was a mandate from the voters.’
    • ‘The rebels haven't even got a mandate through an election.’
    • ‘If the present government cannot maintain the integrity of the country then it should dissolve itself and call an election so that mandates are clear.’
    • ‘He has made clear that he is seeking a personal and a political mandate in this election.’
    • ‘Some even felt that in such a situation, the only honourable course would be for the government to call an election to re-establish a mandate for a change in course.’
    • ‘The public has grumbled to a point where it has lost faith in the Authority because of its failure to carry out its mandate.’
    authority, approval, acceptance, ratification, endorsement
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    1. 2.1Canadian A period during which a government is in power.
      ‘the last mandate of Trudeau, from 1980 to 1984, was a remarkable chapter in Canadian history’
      • ‘Third parties may not always directly influence an election, but they do set the tone for what is discussed and start the next mandate off on a particular foot.’
      • ‘In August 2002, he announced that he would not seek a fourth mandate, but would serve until 2004.’

transitive verb

[with object]

  • 1Give (someone) authority to act in a certain way.

    ‘other colleges have mandated coed fraternities’
    • ‘Having made this judgment, the Security Council may then mandate the US and its allies to use force in order to remove him.’
    • ‘With the money, it will acquire and restructure more mills, as mandated by the State Council.’
    • ‘Well, the problem here is, the ballot initiatives mandate something like 70 percent of the spending in the budget.’
    • ‘The program was mandated to render assistance to forest occupants in developing and improving the ecological health of open and denuded forestlands by planting a combination of agricultural crops and tree species.’
    authorize, commission, depute, appoint, nominate, name, mandate, empower, charge, choose, select, designate, elect
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1Require (something) to be done; make mandatory.
      ‘the government began mandating better car safety’
      • ‘Current Army requirements mandate change in order to move into the future.’
      • ‘For such patients, it may be unrealistic to mandate abstinence as a requirement for treatment.’
      • ‘The federal government has begun mandating it, and they insist that their architects earn at least a bronze rating.’
      • ‘In the states that began to mandate paternity leave, a slightly greater number of fathers utilized it.’
      • ‘Arkansas recently became the first to mandate liability insurance as a requirement for obtaining a certificate.’
      • ‘Guatemala's government is about to mandate a catch-and-release policy, but most boats already do so.’
      • ‘The law doesn't allow judges to deny such requests and it mandates payment for investigators and expert witnesses.’
      • ‘The law would mandate children from kindergarten to second grade be taught Spanish at the same time they're learning English.’
      • ‘More math and reading courses for elementary school teachers were mandated.’
      • ‘Sometimes the text clearly mandates this, in which case I take it that many advocates of judicial restraint wouldn't object.’
      • ‘His task in the next two hours, as mandated by the US State Department, is to summarise baseball for the foreign press.’
      • ‘Until recently it had suffered few consequences, other than economic sanctions that were mandated by Congress.’
      • ‘Likewise, mandating a ‘two winter’ test cycle might be needlessly conservative as computer models become more predictively accurate.’
      • ‘People just seem to think that this can be mandated and then the world's problems are going to be solved.’
      • ‘They wanted it to be mandated, and they wanted legislation that would drive people to do that - just as this bill does.’
      • ‘By the same token, let's examine the minimum wages as mandated by legislation.’
      • ‘For that reason, I do not believe that parental notification should be mandated by law.’
      • ‘An emergency meeting of the Irish regional executive is expected to be mandated by the six Irish districts during the week.’
      • ‘The rules, and thus the inconvenience, have always been mandated by the federal government.’
      • ‘At the same time, the FCC, as mandated by the act, will again review its media ownership rules.’

  • 2historical Assign (territory) under a mandate of the League of Nations.

    • ‘mandated territories’

Origin

Early 16th century from Latin mandatum ‘something commanded’, neuter past participle of mandare, from manus ‘hand’ + dare ‘give’. Sense 2 of the noun has been influenced by French mandat.