andreeva_ln_volkovinskaia_lv_korziuk_nn_liudi_i_obshchestvo

T E X T 2

Pre-reading Activity

1.Can you explain the origin and the meaning of the term “democracy”?

2.What are the most characteristic features of a democratic society to your mind?

3.Having read the text see if your ideas correspond to the given information.

Reading Activity

(!) Read the text and make its outline. Check it with your group mates’ samples.

DEFINING DEMOCRACY

Democracy may be a word familiar to most, but it is a concept still misunderstood and misused in a time when totalitarian regimes and military dictatorships alike have attempted to claim popular support by pinning democratic labels upon themselves. Yet the power of the democratic idea has also evoked some of the history most profound and moving expressions of human will and intellect: from Pericles in Ancient Athens to Vaclav Havel in modern Chechoslovakia, from Thomas Jefferson’ Declaration of Independence in 1776 to Andrey Sakharov’s last speeches in 1989.

In the dictionary definition, democracy “is government by the people in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.” In the phrase of Abraham Lincoln, democracy is a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

Freedom and democracy are often used interchangeably, but the two are not synonymous. Democracy is indeed a set of ideas and principles about freedom, but it also consists of a set of practices and procedures that have been molded through a long, often tortuous history. In short, democracy is the institutionalization of freedom. For this reason, it is possible to identify the time-tested fundamentals of constitutional government, human rights and equality before the law that any society must possess to be properly called democratic.

Democracies fall into two basic categories, direct and representative. In a direct democracy, all citizens, without the intermediary of elected or appointed officials, can participate in making public decisions. Such a system is clearly only practical with relatively small numbers of people — in a community organization or tribal council, for example, or the local unit of a labor union,

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where members can meet in a single room to discuss issues and arrive at decisions by consensus or majority vote. Ancient Athens, the world’s first democracy, managed to practice direct democracy with an assembly that may have numbered as many as 5.000 to 6.000 persons — perhaps the maximum number that can physically gather in one place and practice direct democracy.

Modern society, with its size and complexity, offers few opportunities for direct democracy. Even in the northeastern United States, where the New England town meeting is a hallowed tradition, most communities have grown too large for all the residents to gather in a single location and vote directly on issues that affect their lives.

Today the most common form of democracy, whether for a town of 50.000 or nations of 50 million, is representative democracy, in which citizens elect officials to make political decisions, formulate laws and administer programs for the public good. In the name of the people, such officials can deliberate on complex public issues in a thoughtful and systematic manner that requires an investment of time and energy which is often impractical for the vast majority of private citizens.

How such officials are elected can vary enormously. On the national level, for example, legislator can be chosen from districts that each elect a single representative. Alternatively, under a system of proportional representation, each political party is represented in the legislature according to its percentage of the total vote nationwide. Provincial and local elections can mirror these national models, or choose their representatives more informally through group consensus instead of elections. Whatever the method used, public officials in a representative democracy hold office in the name of the people and are accountable to the people for their actions.

Democracy is more than a set of constitutional rules and procedures that determine how a government functions. In a democracy, government is only one element coexisting in a social fabric of many and varied institutions, political parties, organizations and associations. This diversity is called pluralism, and it assumes that the many organized groups and institutions in a democratic society do not depend upon government for their existence, legitimacy or authority.

Thousands of private organizations operate in a democratic society, some local, some national. Many of them serve a mediating role between individuals and the complex social and governmental institutions of which they are a part, filling roles not given to the government and offering individuals opportunities to exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens of a democracy.

These groups represent the interests of their members in a variety of ways — by supporting candidates for public office, debating issues and trying to influence policy decisions. Through such groups, individuals have an avenue for meaningful participation both in government and in their own communities. The

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examples are many and varied: charitable organizations and churches, environmental and neighborhood groups, business associations and labor unions.

In an authoritarian society, virtually all such organizations would be controlled, licensed, watched or otherwise accountable to the government. In a democracy, the powers of the government are, by law, clearly defined and sharply limited. As a result, private organizations are free of government control; on the contrary, many of them lobby the government and seek to hold it accountable for its actions. Other groups, concerned with the arts, the practice of religious faith, scholarly research or other interests, may chose to have little or no contact with the government at all.

In this busy private realm of democratic society, citizens can explore the possibilities of freedom and the responsibilities of self-government — unpressured by the potentially heavy hand of the state.

(What is Democracy US Information Agency, 1997)

Post-reading Activity

Task 1. State the topic and the main idea of each part according to the made outline.

Task 2. Answer the following questions.

1.Why are the notions of democracy and freedom often used interchangeably?

2.What is the difference between

a)direct and representative democracy;

b)democracy and authoritarian society?

3.How can citizens participate in the work of the government bodies?

4.Is there any need in controlling, monitoring or reporting of one’s actions in a really democratic society?

5.Do you think that Abraham Lincoln’s understanding of democracy still encompasses the essence of this notion?

Task 3. Speculate on the essence of the 11 pillars of democracy. Support your ideas by the facts of history or nowadays situation.

Sovereignty of people.

Government based upon consent of the governed.

Majority rule.

Minority rights.

Guarantee of basic human rights.

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Free and fair elections.

Equality before the law.

Due process of law.

Constitutional limits on government.

Social, economic and political pluralism.

Values of tolerance, pragmatism, cooperation and compromise.

T E X T 3

Pre-reading Activity

1.What does a word “community” mean?

2.Recall some films, books, newspaper articles, TV reports about the way the communities live within a society.

3.What do you think characterizes a community in the best way?

Reading Activity

Scan the text. State what kind of community the Amish people are and the reasons of their arrival in the USA.

AMISH FOLK

The AMISH are called “Plain People” because their clothes are so simple and undecorated.

The Amish began coming from Switzerland and Germany into Pennsylvania near the beginning of the 1700’s. They came seeking freedom to worship as they pleased, and to preserve their own ways of life. Many of them are still living much as their forefathers did 250 years ago.

The Amish do not have telephones in their homes. “Electricity is not in the Bible”, they say; though they will use those in other people’s homes, or public ones, in emergencies. Cars and tractors have also long been resisted by the conservative Amish. They say “A tractor gets the work done more quickly, but horses and the love of hard work keep us nearer to God”.

It is customary among the Amish to intermarry to keep the sect together. Weddings take place in November, when there is less work on the farms. Barn-raising is another old Amish custom. When a farmer’s barn burns or becomes too small or old, all his neighbours help him build a new one. A hundred men or more turn up. They can build a barn in a day.

In the barnyard are usually three cows. “They give us enough milk for our family, and enough left over to make cheese.” The families are almost self-sufficient. They raise pigs, kill them, smoke some of the meat, and sell the rest or trade it with neighbours. They also grow their own vegetables.

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Unless it is absolutely necessary, many Amish folk will not obey the laws that violate their beliefs. Many refuse to pay for Social Security, saying they can take care of themselves — they do not need the State.

The Amish prefer to teach their children at home.

They say: “The training our children get at home is training for the lives they will lead. When we give them gifts, we give housework things to the girls, and tools, harness and so on to the boys”.

Keeping the sect together is still uppermost in the minds of the Amish folk. Nevertheless their numbers have increased since 1900 from 10,000 to almost 50,000 today.

(Abridged from “Northern Indiana Amish Country” tourist guide of the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2000)

Post-reading Activity

Task 1. Answer the questions.

1.How are the Amish called and why?

2.Where did they come from?

3.How do the Amish feel about modern conveniences?

4.What are the main customs among the Amish?

5.How can you prove that the Amish are self-sufficient?

6.What is the Amish’s attitude to the laws of the country?

7.How do they educate their children?

8.What tendency can be noticed among the Amish folk?

Task 2. Say if the following is true or false.

1.The Amish came from Great Britain.

2.They came near the beginning of the 1990’s.

3.The Amish folk have preserved their own way of life.

4.The Amish do not have telephones in their homes.

5.It is unusual between the Amish to intermarry.

6.Weddings take place in November where there is much work on the farm.

7.In the barnyards there are two cows.

8.The families are completely self-sufficient.

9.The Amish won’t obey the laws that violate their beliefs.

10.The Amish prefer to teach their children at home.

Task 3. Use the following words and word combinations in the sentences of your own to describe the way of life of the Amish people.

Plain, to worship, forefathers, in emergency, customary, neighbours, self-sufficient, to raise, to violate, to take care, to trade.

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Task 4. Act as a journalist and interview a member of the Amish folk. Think over the questions you’ll ask him/her.

Task 5. Feminism — the belief that women should have the same right and opportunities as men — is highly developed in the USA. Can you prove that the social phenomenon didn’t touch the Amish folk?

LISTENING PRACTICE

TAPESCRIPT 1

THE COMPARISON GAME

Pre-listening Activity

Task 1. Do you compare yourself in mind and body with people around you? What are your feelings if anyone is cleverer, prettier and luckier than you?

Task 2. Look through the following list of words and clear up any difficulties.

To be intent on doing smth — стремиться что-либо сделать

Task 1. Listen to the recording. Identify the variety of speech.

a)reading a letter from a friend

b)reading a letter on a professional radio programme

c)reading a letter to the editor.

Task 2. State the overall topic of the recording.

a)the problems children have at school;

b)the competitive nature of school life;

c)the competitive nature of society.

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Task 3. Listen to the recording again and finish the missing part of the sentence.

1.Society has always been competitive but in this century life is perhaps … .

2.Even as children we are already intent on showing that we are not merely different from our fellows but in some way … .

3.School life is an … .

4.Our jobs, our possessions and even the areas in which we live become … .

5.Are we interested in proving our superiority, or is it that we take a sadistic delight in proving that some poor fellow being is … ?

Post-listening Activity

Task 1. Answer the following questions.

What arguments does the speaker produce to prove that people are tought almost from birth, to compare themselves with the others.

Do you share the speaker’s concern about the competition in a society? Do you agree that competition is a binding force in a society?

Task 2. Write an answer to Tunbridge Wells, the author of the letter “The Comparison Game.”

SPEECH PRACTICE

Task 1. Work in groups of 3 or 4. Organize a discussion on the quotation below.

“The authority of the government … is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed. The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is progress toward a true respect for the individual.”

(Henry David Thoreau. American essayist. 1817–1862)

Task 2. Here is a list of statements concerning the position of a person in the society. Choose one and express your point of view on the problem under consideration.

1.People feel themselves safer living alongside with somebody who shares their ideas, traditions, way of life.

2.Family is the nucleus of our society.

3.Advantages and disadvantages of co-parenting.

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4.The reasons for the children’s diligence in being highly moral, that is making sacrifices such as missing out on time with friends in order to spend it with a needy parent.

5.The problem of increasing civic engagement decline in the USA.

Task 3. Being a member of a debate club work in teams. Give your arguments for and against the following: it’s impossible to live in a society and to be free from that society at the same time. Do not forget to elect a spokesman to lead the debates.

WRITING PRACTICE

Write an essay on one of following themes.

1.Is “bowling alone” the problem of American society only?

2.What do you think of the impact of the September, 11, 2001 events in the USA on the global understanding of the values of life and principles of democracy?

ACHIEVEMENT TEST

I. Give the term to the following definition.

a)a system in which everyone right to vote, make decisions etc.;

b)the principle that people of different races religious and political beliefs can live together peacefully in the same society;

c)a particular large group of people who share laws, organizations, customs etc.

d)a group of people who are related to each other, especially a mother, father, and their children;

e)living or working in a particular place or institution;

f)a group of people who try to persuade a government that a particular law or situation should be changed.

II. Match the synonymous pairs.

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III. Choose the most suitable word to complete the sentence.

1.The … of the democratic idea evokes the most profound and moving expressions of human will and intellect.

IV. Fill in the blanks with the proper words given below.

1.People feel themselves safer alongside with somebody who … their ideas, traditions, way of life.

2.The decline of solidarity and trust create the society which is more … .

3.The process of urban renewal has destroyed … communities and networks.

4.Declining … participation has made government less responsive.

5.There has been a marked … in the numbers willing to work for a party.

6.Civic engagement, civil society and the mutual trust have long served as a … to the individualism.

Civic, counterweight, fearful, shares, decline, long-established.

V. Give the appropriate translation to the Russian words.

1.Today, thousands of children are members of домашних хозяйств where only one of their birth parents live.

2.Ни один индивидуум can ever be totally independent of other people.

3.Nowadays, we usually think of обществах as national, and even international сообществах.

4.In a direct democracy, all citizens, without посредников can participate in making public decisions.

5.Around the country законодатель can be chosen from districts that each elect a single representative.

6.The разнообразие of institutions, political parties, organizations and associations is called плюрализм.

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UNIT II

FREEDOM OF THE INDIVIDUAL

If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom.

Robert Frost

Freedom is the main asset in a new civilization. It is not a cure-all, but it gives people a chance, without it there is no chance. Without it, a “power” can be established that may huff and puff but will have neither real might nor dignity. Perhaps no issue is discussed more often, than the rights and freedoms of the individual — how far should the state decide what is best for us, and how far should we have the right to control our own lives?

Even in the countries where social and political values are very similar, the laws about some of the world’s most controversial issues can be very different.

Let’s discuss what freedom actually is: a reality or a mirage?

To encourage you to speak, start with one-minute talk, choosing any of the points below:

–What I know about freedom.

–The level of freedom in the country.

–Complete freedom implies...

BASIC VOCABULARY TERMS

amendment (n) a minor change or addition to a document etc.;

censorship (n) the action or policy of examining books, films, plays, letters etc. and removing parts which are considered offensive, politically unacceptable or (esp. in war) a threat to security;

euthanasia (n) painless killing of people who are very old or terminally ill; freedom (n) the power or right to act, speak, think etc. as one wants

(chooses) without anyone stopping one; hospice (n) a hospital for people who are dying; interference (n) trying to change what somebody else is doing; redrafting (n) writing something in a better form;

reservation (n) a reason for not agreeing to (a plan), accepting (an idea)

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