What is mandate?

Answer 1

A mandate is an order or command. In politics, it means the authority the government has to do what it proposes to do. If the government has campaigned on a certain platform and then was elected, they have a mandate from the people to carry out that platform.

• Written authorization and/or command by a person, group, or organization (the 'mandator') to another (the 'mandatary') to take a certain course of action.
• Normally revocable until executed, a mandate is automatically terminated on the bankruptcy, incapacitation, removal from office, or death of the mandator.
• A check, for example, is a mandate issued by a customer of a bank, to pay it as instructed, from a customer's account balance.
• Refer to link below

The definition of mandate is a document giving an official instruction.

Answer 2

Sarah Palin used the word "mandation" when discussing President Obama's State of the Union Address. Palin said Obama was calling for a "mandation" on health care. The problem is that it is unclear if "mandation" is even a word. It cannot be found in any dictionaries. Some websites claim "mandation" is another form of involuntary servitude.

According to the OED, a mandation means something committed to memory as a sermon. In use since 1867.

Answer 3

Mandating is an authority issuing an order that must be obeyed by those who fall under that authority.