Improve your English. Учебное пособие по английскому языку

There are many political parties in Great Britain, but due to the so-called majority electoral system only two major political parties may win a majority in the House of Commons. In Great Britain these parties are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party (the Tory). No other political party today can become a ruling party or an official Opposition.

All the organs of mass media aid the state in strengthening the idea that the two-party system is the only possible one. The BBC, for instance, gives only the two major parties liberal programme time for party political broadcasts. Even the architecture of the House of Commons reflects the dictatorship of the two parties.

The House elects by show of hands its own president who is called the Speaker. The Speaker is elected for life. His main task is to maintain strict control over debates. It is he who selects members to speak; he punishes them if they break the rules of debate; and since 1877 he has the power of suspending a member from the House. He is not entitled to vote unless the voting is equal (in this case he votes with the government).

The Speaker is helped by three Clerks of the House and Whips. The Chief Whip of the ruling party is a very influential figure in the House. He lives at Downing

Street 12 not far from the Prime Minister’s (Downing Street 10) and is in constant contact with the Premier.

The president of the House of Lords is Lord Chancellor who belongs to the party, which has a majority in the Commons.

The House of Lords has the dual nature. In the morning it hears appeals as the final Court of appeals in Great Britain. In the afternoon it sits as a legislative chamber.

So, the Lord Chancellor is the Chief Judge in England and Chairman (Speaker) of the House of Lords.

The main function of both Houses is legislation, i.e. making new laws and amending or changing the old ones. In Great Britain a bill to become law must pass both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. However, a bill introduced in the House of Lords cannot become law unless it is passed by the House of Commons; whereas a bill, passed in the Commons, can become law even if opposed by the Lords. The Lords cannot oppose a money bill, and they can merely delay for one year any other bill, which they do not like.

1. Read and translate the text.

11

2. How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?

1.How does it come that the party, which is in majority in the House of Commons, possesses both legislative and executive powers?

2.What is the role of the Opposition in the British Parliament?

3.Why are the so-called third parties kept from coming to power?

4.What are the duties and powers of the Speaker?

5.Why do you think Lord Chancellor be longs to the majority party?

6.Compare the powers of the both Houses.

3.Give Russian equivalents of the following words and make up the sentences of your own with them.

General elections, newly elected House of Commons, second in majority, bills introduced by the government, deep-going contest, mass media, liberal programme time, is elected for life, a very influential figure, legislation.

4.Complete the text bellow with the following words.

Cabinet, benches, Foreign Secretary, backbenchers, Budget, Shadow Cabinet, Prime Minister, Speaker, Home Secretary, ministers, front bench, Leader of the Opposition, debates, Opposition, Chancellor of the Exchequer

The House of Commons

In the House of Commons members of Parliament take their seats on the green leather __ according to their party and position. One of them is chosen to be the __, who acts as a kind of Chairman of the ___ which take place in the House. In front of him on his right sit the MPs of the biggest party, which forms the government, and facing them sit the MPs of the parties who oppose them, the __ . The leaders of these two groups sit at the front on each side. MPs without special positions in their parties sit behind their leaders at the back. They are called ___. The leader of the government, the __ , sits on the government ___ , of course, next to his or her ___ . The most important of these form the __ . The minister responsible for relations with other countries is called the __ . The one responsible for law and security is called the __ . The one who deals with financial matters and prepares the annual __ speech on the economic state of the country is called the __. Opposite this group sits the __ (the main person in the largest party opposing the government) and the __ , each member of which specialized in a particular area of government.

12

5. Explain the meanings of the following word-combinations from the text.

By-election; the ruling party; to suspend a member from the House; Lord Chancellor.

Text 3. The executive

The executive can be divided into three parts.

The Privy Council. The Privy Council developed from a small group of royal advisers at court into the chief source of executive authority. But its position was weakened in the 18th and 19th centuries as more of its functions were transferred to a developing parliamentary Cabinet.

Today its main role is to advise the monarch on a range of matters, like the resolution of constitutional issues and the approval of Orders in Council, such as the granting of Royal Charters to public bodies. The most important task of the Privy Council today is performed by its Judicial Committee. This serves as the final court of appeal from those dependencies and Commonwealth countries, which have retained this avenue of appeal. It may also be used as an arbiter for a wide range of courts and committees in Britain and overseas, and its rulings can be influential.

The office of Privy Councilor is an honorary one, conferred, for example, on former Prime Minister.

The Ministry. The ministry is the government of the moment. The head of the ministry is the Prime Minister. The functions of the Prime Minister are: leading the majority party; running the government; appointing Cabinet Ministers and other ministers; representing the nation in political matters.

Upon accepting office the Prime Minister must form a government, that is, select a cabinet and ministry from among the members of Parliament of his own party. The Cabinet constitutes the centre of the government and is composed of about 20 of the most important ministers. All major decisions of the government are made by the Cabinet, and therefore it is the Cabinet which forms government policy. Decisions made by the Cabinet must be unanimous. It makes its decisions collectively and is collectively responsible to Parliament.

After the Prime Minister has formed his cabinet, he selects the rest of his ministry. Most of these ministers are the political heads of government departments and are members of one of the Houses.

Government Departments. Government departments are responsible for implementing government policy. Each department is headed by two people: a political head who is usually the minister, and an administrative head from the Civil Service, called a permanent secretary. They are responsible for a permanent staff,

13

which is part of the Civil Service. There are many such departments, for example, the Home Office, the Department of Education, the Ministry of Defense, etc. The most important department is the Treasury, and the Prime Minister is usually its political head. It is the department, which controls the economy of the nation.

As well as government departments there are government agencies formed to operate public services, e.g., the Post Office, British Rail, etc. Most of these agencies are subject to the control of one of the government departments.

1.Read and translate the text.

2.How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?

1.What are the functions of: Parliament; the Prime Minister; the Privy Council; the Cabinet; the government departments?

2.Who does the Cabinet consist of?

3.What is “collective responsibility”?

4.Who is each department headed by? What are their functions?

5.What is a government agency?

3. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions.

The Privy Council; Royal Charters; Commonwealth; the ministry; government departments; Civil Service; the Home (Foreign) Office; the Treasury.

4. Find the English equivalents for the following expressions in the text.

Вступать в должность; сформировать правительство; круг вопросов; почетная должность; единогласное решение; осуществлять политику правительства; подлежать контролю.

5. Write short compositions, answering the following questions.

1.If the Prime Minister wants to introduce a new law, what are the functions of the following: the Cabinet; the House of Commons; the House of Lords; the Queen?

2.What are the features of the British Constitution, which you consider important? Compare them with the Constitution of your own country.

3.What are the distinctive features of the state and political system of Great Britain?

14

Text 4. The state system of Russia

Russia is a democratic federative law-governed state with a republican form of government. The Russian Federation consists of 83 constituents entities/components (republics, krays, oblasts, cities of federal significance, autonomous oblasts and autonomous okrugs, which have equal rights). The authorities of the constituent entities have the right to pass laws independently from the federal government. These laws are valid on the territory of the appropriate federate division, but they cannot contradict the federal laws. In case of conflicts between federal and local authorities, the President uses consensual procedures to resolve the problem. In the event a consensus is not reached, the dispute is transferred to the appropriate court for its resolution. The Russian President has the right to suspend acts passed by local executive authorities in case that these acts conflict with federal laws of Russia, its international commitments, or if they violate the human and civil rights and freedoms until the issue is resolved by appropriate court.

State power in Russia is vested in three independent branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly (the Parliament). Executive power belongs to the central and local governments. Judicial Power is provided by appropriate judicial system and by civil, administrative and criminal legislation.

The President is the head of the state and determines the basic objectives of the internal and external policy of the state. He is elected for four years on the basic of universal, equal and direct right to vote by secret ballot for all eligible citizens. One and the same person cannot serve as President for more than two terms in succession. The President stops performing his duties ahead of time if he resigns, because of impeachment, or if he cannot continue to carry out duties due to poor health. Elections of a new President are to take place within three months and in the meantime his duties are acted upon by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The President appoints, with the consent of the State Duma, the Chairman of the Government, adopts the decisions on the resignation of the government. The President nominates to the State Duma a candidate for appointment to the post of the Chairman of the Central Bank, presidents to the Federation Council, candidates for the posts of the Constitutional and Supreme Court Justices, Supreme Arbitration Court Justices, and a candidate for the post of Prosecutor General. The President forms and heads the Security Council. He is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and appoints the supreme commanders of the Armed Forces. He appoints diplomatic representatives for approval by the Parliament. He confers supreme military and supreme special titles and honorary

15

titles of the state. He has the right to pardon and to decide on issues of citizenship. He has the right to introduce the state of emergency throughout the country or in a particular area within the Russian Federation. The President has the right to dissolve the State Duma, to announce elections ahead of time and to pass the decision to conduct a referendum on federal issues.

The judicial power of the country is vested in the Constitutional Court, which consists of 13 judges elected for unlimited term (till 65 years of age).

The system of federal common courts includes the Supreme Court, courts of the regions and martial courts.

The system of Courts of Arbitration includes 93 courts: Higher, 10 interregional courts of federal district, 82 regional courts. The Higher Arbitration Court was established in January, 1992.

The Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation is the single centralized structure for supervision over maintenance of the laws and human rights and for criminal prosecution.

1.Read and translate the text.

2.How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?

1.What type of state is Russia?

2.Who has the right to pass laws independently from the federal government?

3.When does the President use consensual procedures to resolve the problem?

4.Where is the dispute transferred to in case a consensus is not reached?

5.In which case does the President have the right to suspend acts passed by local executive authorities?

6.What are the three independent branches of state power in Russia?

7.Who determines the basic objectives of internal and external policy?

8.What are the basic principles of voting when electing the President?

9.Who heads the Security Council?

10.What is the judicial authority of the Russian Federation?

3.Complete the following sentences.

1.Under the Constitution Russia is …

2.The federal government consists of …

3.The legislative power is …

4.The upper chamber is …, the lower chamber is …

5.Each chamber is headed by …

6.To become a law a bill must …

7.The President is …

16

8.The judicial power in the country is …

9.The Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation is …

4. Give the Russian equivalents for the following expressions and make up the sentences of your own with them.

A constituent entity; a consensual procedure; to suspend an act; to vote by secret ballot; to resolve an issue; an appropriate court; to confer special and honorary titles to smb.; to introduce a state of emergency; to dissolve the State Duma; to shoe mercy on smb.

Text 5. Executive power

The executive power is exercised by the Government of the Russian Federation. The government consists of its Chairman, vice-chairman and of 30 federal ministers. The government manages the system of about 60 federal bodies of executive power (ministries, state committees, federal agencies, commissions and services).

The Chairman’s candidate is appointed by the President with the consent of the

State Duma. Should the selected candidate be rejected three times, the President appoints the Prime Minister himself, dissolves the State Duma and announces new elections. Additionally, the Chairman of the government proposes to the President candidates for the posts of deputy chairmen and the other federal ministers.

The government presents a draft budget to be discussed by the State Duma and it provides its implementation and realization of financial, credit and monetary policies. It carries out measures to ensure the legality, rights and freedoms of the citizens, to protect property, public order and combat crimes. It ensures state security, and the realization of foreign policy. The government ensures the implementation of a uniform state policy in the sphere of culture, science, education, social security, health, and ecology.

Federal and local authorities form a single system of the government’s executive branch to control the previously mentioned issues and to pass the appropriate federal and local laws. In Russia they guarantee common economic area, the free movement of goods, services, the financial means, the support of competition and the freedom of economic activity. They recognize and protect in an equal way the private, state, municipal and other forms of property. Land and other natural resources are used and protected in Russia as a basis of the life and activity of the people who live on those territories. Land and other natural resources can be in private, state, municipal and other forms of property.

1. Read and translate the text.

17

2. How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?

1.Who appoints the Chairman of the government and what is the procedure of the appointment?

2.What are the duties and powers of the government?

3.Whose right is it to carry out the procedure of no confidence in the government?

4.Who is responsible for implementation of financial, credit and monetary politics?

5.What do federal and local authorities have to do in Russia?

6.What forms of property are there in Russia? Are they all equal?

3.Give the Russian equivalents for the following expressions and make up the sentences of your own with them.

A vice-chairman; a federal minister; a draft budget; to ensure legality; to guarantee common economic area; to guarantee movement of goods, services and financial means; municipal property; appropriate means; the private form of ownership.

4.Make a short report.

How does executive power work in Russia?

Text 6. Legislative power

The parliament of the Russian Federation, the Federal Assembly, is the representative and legislative body of the Russian Federation. It consists of two chambers: the Upper Chamber is the Council of Federation. The Lower Chamber is the State Duma. Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. Legislature may be initiated by the two chambers. But to become a law a bill must be approved by both chambers and signed by the President. The President may veto the bill.

The Federation Council includes two representatives from each constituent entity of the Russian Federation and the State Duma consists of 450 deputies. The Federal Assembly is a permanently functioning body. The Federation Council and the State Duma sit separately. Their sessions are open, but they have the right to pass the decisions to conduct closed sessions. Each house forms committees and commissions to hold appropriate hearings. Both houses set up the Accounts Chamber to monitor implementation of the federal budget.

Federal laws adopted by the State Duma on the following issues must compulsorily be examined by the Federation Council: the federal budget; federal taxes and levies; financial, currency, credit and customs regulation, money emission;

18

ratification and denunciation of international treaties after their adoption by the State Duma; war and peace.

The Council of Federation also considers various issues. It approves decisions on changes of borders between constituent entities and sanctions, the introduction of martial law and a state of emergency. Without the Federal Council approval, military forces cannot be used outside the country. Within its competence, the appointment and dismissal of the Prosecutor General and judges of the supreme body of the judicial branch, the deputy Chairman and half of the auditors of the Auditing Chamber is within its competence. It also has the right of final decision on the impeachment of the President and the announcement of new elections of the President.

The following issues are within the jurisdiction of the State Duma: consent to the appointment of the Chairman of the government by the President of the Russian Federation; deciding the issue of confidence in the Government of the Russian Federation; appointment and dismissal of the Chairman of the Central Bank, the Chairman and half of the auditors of the Auditing Chamber; the Commissioner for Human Rights; announcement of amnesty; brining charges against the President of the Russian Federation for his impeachment.

1.Read and translate the text.

2.Give the full answers.

1.What is the structure of the Federal Assembly?

2.What laws are considered by the State Duma and the Federation Council?

3.Are the two chambers equal?

4.What committees are set up by both chambers and what are their responsibilities?

5.Who can issue charges against the President?

6.Whose right is it to approve the President’s appointments?

7.Which house of the Federal Assembly deals with:

a)peace and war;

b)announcing an amnesty;

c)appointment and dismissal of the Accounting Chamber;

d)ratification and denunciation of international treaties of Russia;

e)appointment and dismissal of the Prosecutor General.

19

3.Give the Russian equivalents for the following expressions and make up the sentences of your own with them.

A permanent functioning body; to conduct a closed session; to hold appropriate hearings; to set up an Auditing Chamber; to monitor implementations of smth.; credit and custom regulations; within one’s competence; consent to an appointment; dismissal of the Chairman; to bring charges against smb.

4.Agree or disagree to the following statements and correct them if they are

wrong.

1.The Federal Assembly is a permanently functioning body.

2.The Federation Council and the State Duma sit together.

3.The Federation Council must examine federal taxes and levies.

4.The Federation Council doesn’t examine the issues of ratification and denunciation of international treaties.

5.Without the Federation Council approval military forces cannot be used outside the country.

6.Consent to the appointment of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation is within the jurisdiction of the State Duma.

7.The State Duma cannot bring charges against the President of the Russian Federation for his impeachment.

5. Make a short report.

How does legislative power work in Russia?

20