The exacutive power

The executive power in the USA belongs to the President and his Administration. Though powers exercised by the President as chief executive are very great, the US Constitution envisages some measures which do not allow distorting the principle of division of power among the three branches of government.

The presidency of the USA is the highest governmental office. President of the USA is the head of the State and the Government; he is also the Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces. “Administration” is a popular term to identify the executive branch of the federal government responsible for administering and executing laws.

President is assisted by Vice-President and the Cabinet. The President and Vice-President are elected for a term of four years and can be re-elected for another term, but not longer than that, since the Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution (1951) limited the President’s term of office.

President must be a natural-born citizen of the USA, at least 35 years old, and at least 14 years a resident of the USA. The term of office of the President begins at noon on January 20.

Presidential elections are held in two stages. The first stage is in November when Americans vote for electors, and the second stage is on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, when electors elect President and Vice-President. After the ballots are opened at a joint session of Congress, the President-Elect becomes the US President.

President conducts foreign affairs, signs treaties in the name of the USA, and appoints diplomats, Cabinet members, federal judges with the consent and advice of the Senate. President ordinarily outlines the course of his administration through his frequent messages to Congress. The major presidential messages sent to Congress are the annual State of the Union message, the annual budget message and the economic report.

Vice-President presides over the Senate. The White House may use Vice-President as a contact man among the senators, or he may sit at Cabinet meetings and become a sort of understudy to the President. He takes the President’s office if the President is unable to finish his term.

US President is assisted in Administration by a Cabinet of 12 members. Cabinet secretaries correspond to European ministers. They are heads of different departments and directly and fully responsible to President who appoints them for an indefinite time. Cabinet officials usually serve during his term. When the president’s service ends, it is customary for the Cabinet to resign, so the new president can appoint new chiefs of executive departments. Among the most important departments one should mention the Department of State responsible for American foreign policy, the Department of Defence or the Pentagon, the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, etc. The Department of State ranks ahead of other Departments in prestige and seniority, and the political power of the Secretary of State is second only to that of the President. The Secretary of State has the duty of trying to maintain peace and to negotiate economic and political treaties.

In addition to Secretaries President has an inner Cabinet, the so-called “White House Office”, the name given to the President’s immediate assistants and various advisers on different aspects of home and foreign policy.

Under the US Constitution, the House of Representatives may bring charges against the President in impeachment proceedings. The Senate acts as a trial court and a two-third vote in the Senate is necessary for conviction. It is a method provided for getting rid of officials who cannot be dismissed: presidents, vice-presidents and’all civil officers of the United States. They may be removed from office for treason, bribery and other high crimes”.

3. Give Ukrainian equivalents to the following words and expressions:

a chief executive; to administer and execute laws; to vote for electors; to conduct foreign affairs; to outline the course of the administration; the major presidential messages; correspond to; to be directly and fully responsible to the president; a contact man; a sort of understudy; it is customary for the Cabinet to resign; a chief of the executive department; to rank ahead; to maintain peace; different aspects of home and foreign policy; inner Cabinet; impeachment proceedings; to dismiss officials; high crime.

4. Find in the text the words or expressions that mean the following:

передбачати заходи; перекручувати принцип поділу влади; найвища владна посада; Головнокомандувач збройними силами; популярний термін; обмежувати термін перебування на посаді президента; натуралізований, корінний американець; проводити вибори у два етапи; спільне засідання; обраний президент, що не приступив до виконання обов‘язків; підписувати договори від імені США; призначати дипломатів; згода Сенату; міністр; перебувати на посаді протягом певного терміну; обговорювати умови економічних та політичних договорів; безпосередній помічник; внутрішня та зовнішня політика; висунути обвинувачення; позбутися посадовців; звільнити з посади.

5. A: Fill in the appropriate word from the list below.

Remove, corresponds, rank, exercised, charges, envisages, outlined, assisted, ballot, identified, impeached, dismissed

1. No reform had seemed more unlikely than the adoption of the …. 2. The judge dismissed all …. 3. The governor was … for wrongful use of state money. 4. Local villagers … the doctors with the people wounded in the bus crash. 5. The photograph … with the description that the witness gave us. 6. The plaintiff's action was … with costs. 7. He … an entirely new system of education. 8. An arbitrary power of imprisonment was still … by the Council. 9. She …. the intruder to the police. 10. She … what I would be doing. 11. We … you as our best candidate. 12. … that dangerous weapon from the child!

B: Fill in the appropriate proposition or adverb where necessary.

1. They trumped up (фабрикувати) various charges … her. 2. The suspect was arrested …various charges. 3. This man was impeached …the crime ... murdering his wife. 4. He was immediately impeached … high treason. 5. We assisted them … the preparation … the report. 6. The prosecutor brought criminal charges … the man who attacked the girl. 7. This ideal model does not correspond … the facts. 8. They are merely exercising their right … free speech. 9. Mr. Green was removed … the chairmanship … the club.

6. Translate the words given in two columns and match the pairs as they are used in the text.

1. урядовий	a. влада
2. популярний	b. вибори
3. виконавчий	c. засідання
4. натуралізований	d. послання
5. федеральний	e. термін
6. президентський	f. звіт
7. другий	g. обов‘язок
8. спільний	h. громадянин
9. постійний	i. департамент
10. економічний	j. договір
11. щорічний	k. помічник
12. невизначений	l. посада
13. важливий	m. бюджет
14. політичний	n. гілка
15. безпосередній	o. етап

7. Study the following expressions with the word ‘joint’ and use them in the sentences of your own.

Joint action- спільна дія

Joint authors (authorship) – колектив авторів, колективне авторство

Joint board – координаційний комітет, об‘єднане управління

Joint Staff – об‘єднаний штаб

Joint Chiefs of Staff - об‘єднаний комітет начальників штабів

Joint commission to investigate the effects of Atomic Bomb – комісія для вивчення наслідків вибухів атомних бомб

Joint obligations – солідарне зобов‘язання

Joint owner - співвласник

Joint resolution – спільна постанова обох палат конгресу

Joint responsibility – солідарна відповідальність

Joint venture – спільне підприємство

8. Match the words given on the left with their definitions on the right.

1.office	a. a formal accusation against a public official by a legislative body
2. term	b. violation of the allegiance owed by a person to his or her own country, for example, by aiding an enemy.
3. resident	c. a communication in speech, writing, or signals
4. session	d. an often itemized estimate of income and spending, for example, of a country or company, during a specified period. It sometimes includes systematic proposals as to how expenses will be met.
5. candidate	e. an accusation of wrongdoing, especially an official statement accusing somebody of committing a crime
6. consent	f. to give up a paid or unpaid position voluntarily
7. message	g. to select a person or a group of people for an official position or to do a particular job
8. budget	h. a program of actions adopted by an individual, group, or government, or the set of principles on which they are based
9. duty	i. the offering of money or other incentives to persuade somebody to do something, especially something dishonest or illegal
10. to appoint	j. an official organization, especially a government department, or the work performed for such an organization
11. to resign	k. a facet, phase, or part of a whole; a particular view or point of view
12. service	l. the finding or an instance of finding somebody guilty or of being found guilty of a crime
13. to maintain	m. somebody who runs for election to a political office or an official position
14. bribery	n. to give permission or approval for something to happen
15. aspect	o. somebody who lives permanently or for a considerable period in a particular place
16. policy	p. to ensure that something continues to work properly by checking it regularly and making repairs and adjustments if required
17. impeachment	q. to accuse somebody formally of having committed a crime
18. conviction	r. something that somebody is obliged to do for moral, legal, or religious reasons
19. charge	s. the length of time that something lasts, with a fixed or specified beginning and end, often a period during which somebody holds a specific appointment or office
20. treason	t. a meeting of an official body, especially a court or legislature

9. Fill in a correct word or phrase from the list below:

Speaker of the House; representatives; four; pardons; affirms; President’s Cabinet; officers; ambassadors; special; Supreme Court justices; president pro tempore of the Senate; allowances; Cabinet officers; two; Commander in Chief; Vice-President(2); state of the union; 171,500; bribery; created (2); temporary; departments; consent (2); Twenty-second; impeached; misdemeanors; 200,000; retrieves; oath; consuls; treason; swears; office

The executive branch includes the (1)____________, the (2)____________, and the (3)__________. The President sees that our laws are executed, or carried out.

The President is followed in succession by the (4)__________, the (5) ________ _______, the (6) __________ _________ __________, and his (7) __________ in the order their departments were (8) _________. The last (9) ________ departments (10) __________ are not in the line of succession.

The President’s salary is (11) _________ dollars a year, plus expense (12) _________ and other benefits. The Vice President’s salary is (13) ____________ dollars a year.

The President and Vice-President Serve (14) _________ year terms of office, and the President is limited to (15) ________ terms by the (16) ___________ Amendment to the Constitution.

The President takes an (17) ________ of office, in which he (18) ___________ or (19) __________ to carry out his (20) ___________ and defend the United States Constitution.

Among the powers and duties of the President are: (21) ________ _________ of the Armed forces; to ask for (22) _________ reports from the heads of executive (23) _________; to grant (24) _________ and (25) ____________ to breakers of federal laws, with the exception of (26) __________ officials, who have been convicted; to make treaties with foreign countries, with the (27) _________ of the Senate; to appoint (28) ________, (29) __________, (30) __________, and other high officials, with the (31) __________ of the Senate; to make (32) __________ appointments is the Senate is not in session; to make a (33) _________ _________ message to Congress at the beginning of each session; to receive (34) ___________ from foreign countries; and to commission all federal (35) _____________.

A president may be impeached for (36) _________, (37) __________, other crimes, or (38) ________.

10. Translate the text given below.

Повноваження Президента

Посада Президента Сполучених Штатів Америки – одна з найбільш наділених владними повноваженнями у світі. Президент, як сказано в Конституції, повинен „забезпечувати точне виконання законів”. Задля здійснення цього відповідального обов‘язку він очолює виконавчу гілку федерального уряду – величезну організацію чисельністю близько 4 мільйонів осіб включно з 1 мільйоном військових дійсної служби. Крім того, Президент наділений важливими законодавчими та судовими повноваженнями.

У межах виконавчої гілки влади Президент має широкі повноваження щодо управління загальнодержавними справами й роботою федерального уряду.

Незважаючи на конституційне положення про те, що „всі повноваження законодавчої влади” мають бути надані Конгресові, Президент як головний творець державної політики відіграє вельми важливу законодавчу роль. Президент може накласти вето на будь-який законопроект, схвалений Конгресом, і, якщо дві третини кожної з палат не проголосують за скасування цього вето, законопроект не стане законом.

До судових повноважень Президента належить призначення федеральних суддів, оголошення повної або часткової амністії засудженому за порушення федерального закону, скорочення строків ув‘язнення та зменшення штрафів.

11. Answer the following questions.

1. What is the highest governmental office in the USA? 2. Can the president be elected for three terms? 3. How are the president’s elections held? 4. What are the powers of the president? 5. What are the powers of Vice-President? 6. What departments does the Cabinet consist of? 7. What is “White House office”? 8. How can the president be removed from his office before the term expires?