3.4.3 Write a paragraph on:

a) defining the features of a totalitarian state;

b) the approaches to the definition of republic or representative democracy, the terms being interchangeable.

3.5 Practice

Skills focus

3.5.1 Read the extract and fill in prepositions wherever necessary. Discuss the text. Give the text the appropriate heading.

_______________________________

Members …… Congress represent the views …… people …… vastly different parts …… the country …… vastly different perspectives, priorities, and interests, which makes the task …… producing legislation a difficult one.  Disputes are an expected part …… the process. Congressional committees play a key role …… sorting …… all the bills that are introduced …… Congress, …… less than 10% ever making it out of committee. The legislative process is long and complicated, …… numerous steps and obstacles …… the way, all to ensure that multiple voices are heard and bad ideas do not pass quickly …… the heat of the moment. The leadership …… Congress has considerable influence …… what legislation gets considered.  It also has ways to short-cut the process …… order to get something done, but that is often upsetting …… those …… the minority.

Given the country’s incredible diversity, compromise plays a key role …… the system …… government—listening …… the other side, trying to find accommodations …… various viewpoints, searching …… common ground.

3.5.2 Complete the text by using the following word combinations from the box and fill in the grid. Discuss the text.
A	by mutual consent	G	the rich or of the poor
B	qualified to judge	H	the early legislation
C	by the threat of punishment	I	produce and trade
D	responds to economic changes	J	rather than another
F	by voluntary means	K	law reform

Economic Power versus Political Power

What is economic power? It is the power to ___ (1) ___ what one has produced. In a free economy, where no man or a group of men can use physical coercion against anyone, economic power can be achieved only ___ (2) ___; by the voluntary choice and agreement of all those who participate in the process of production and trade. In a free market, all prices, wages, and profits are determined - not by the arbitrary whim of ___ (3) ___, not by anyone’s ‘greed’ or by anyone’s need – but the law of supply and demand. The mechanism of a free market reflects and sums up all the economic choices and decisions by all the participants. Men trade their goods or services ___ (4) ___ to mutual advantage, according to their own independent, uncoerced judgment. A man can grow rich only if he is able to offer better values – better products or services, at a lower price – than others are able to offer.

Wealth in a free market is achieved by a free, general, ‘democratic’ vote – by the sales and the purchases of every individual who takes part in the economic life of the country. Whenever you buy one product ___ (5) ___, you are voting for the success of some manufacturer. And in this type of voting, every man votes only on those matters which he is ___ (6) ___: on his own preferences, interests, and needs. No one has the power to decide for others or to substitute his judgment for theirs; no one has the power to appoint himself ‘the voice of the public’ and to leave the public voiceless and disfranchised.

Now let us define the difference between economic power and political power: economic power is exercised by means of a positive, by offering men a reward, an incentive, a payment, a value; political power is exercised by means of a negative, ___ (7) ___, injury, imprisonment, destruction. The businessman’s tool is values; the bureaucrat’s tool is fear.

What is the relationship between economic power and political power? It is obvious that there is one. The relationship between economic power and political power can be seen in ___ (8) ___. Companies and associations have power in shaping ___ (9) ___ in different fields. If such groups have standing in the judicial or legislative process, they can be influential in shaping the way law responds to economic change.

The particular way, in which a legal system ___ (10) ___, is determined by the social factors and the economy itself. The position of the legal community as a sub-set of the social system mirrors this.

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