But one official said, "Profitability is not an objective of the bank, nor should it be an internal constraint on achieving the bank's public policy mandates."

Democrats contend that Mr. Bush achieved only a personal victory, not a policy mandate.

In general, legislatures first set broad policy mandates by passing statutes, then agencies create more detailed regulations through rulemaking.

The United States Congress passes laws that sometimes outline only broad policy mandates.

The principal goal of the company's current policy mandate as determined by Cabinet is:

Unlike the I.R.S., Icann is not a government agency; it is a nonprofit corporation with a limited policy mandate.

"This is not a Federal policy mandate," he said.

On cutting off loans to Nicaragua, for example, he stressed that this was a decision forced by bank rules, not American policy mandates.

The new Sovereign Council had a broad policy mandate.

He hoped to gain both a personal mandate as Prime Minister and a policy mandate for his tariff proposals.