Words and expressions

treaty – договор

to evolve – развиваться, эволюционировать

sovereign – монарх

sovereignty – верховная власть

statute law – статутное право; право, выраженное в законодательных актах

hereditary – наследственный, передаваемый по наследству

representative government - представительное правительство

Task 1. Match the words with their Russian equivalents.

majority избирать

powers увольнять

head of the state могущество, власть

gradually договор, соглашение

convention глава государства

elect большинство

dismiss постепенно

uncensored гарантировать

safeguard не проходивший цензуру

Task 2. Translate the words into Russian and write words they are formed from.

Development, government, cornerstone, lawmakers, leadership, non-binding, three-tier system, living, representative, changeable, executive, fundamental, authorization.

Political system of the usa

Read and translate the text

The us Constitution

The US Constitution was proclaimed in 1787, it is the supreme law of the country, which protects the rights of all the people living in the USA. The constitution is based on three main principles:

• the first one guarantees basic rights such as right of freedom of speech and religion, right to have a trial and right to own a property;

• the second one tells about a government by the people – people can vote for their representatives and ask for new laws and changes;

• the third one tells about the three branches of the US government and their different powers: legislative, executive, judicial.

The Constitution includes the Preamble, 7 articles, 26 amendments, which help to make some changes or add some new things. The first 10 amendments are called Bill of Rights which must protect specific individual rights and freedom from government interference.

The Constitution sets up a federal system of government by dividing powers between the national, state and local governments. Two characteristics of this three-tier system of American government are fundamental. First, citizens elect officials to serve in the national, state and local governments. The authority of each level rests with the people.

Second, each level of government raises money through taxation from the citizens living in the area it serves. Unless each level of government can raise its own fiscal resources, it cannot act independently. The idea of separating powers among the various elements of government was designed to restrict governmental power and prevent its abuse. Wherever possible, the Founding Fathers (Отцы-основатели) built a system of "checks and balances" into the Constitution so that no one part of the government could supplant the other.

At the national level, the federal government is further divided into three autonomous branches.

The Legislative Branch

The Constitution sets up a bi-cameral body known as the U.S. Congress to raise and to spend national revenue and to draft laws. The two chambers are the Senate and the House of Representatives. The main function of the legislative branch is to make laws about trade, taxes, citizenship. It is commonly said that Congress influences American policy by exercising the "power of the purse strings" [распоряжаться деньгами]. It can maintain army, declare war, establish US Post Office, print and borrow money.

The Congress cannot take away the right to a trial, give title to nobility, put a tax on export, and use tax money without authorization. It cannot make laws about marriage, driver's licenses, and police. A new Congress begins every two years with the elections of new senators and representatives. It meets in Capitol, Washington D.C. The House of Representatives has large room, the Senate has smaller one. There are 435 members in the House of Representative and 100 senators. Each state elects two members of the 100-member Senate.

The broad powers of the whole Congress are spelled out in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, which not only outlines what Congress can do, but also specifically forbids Congress from certain acts. The 10th Amendment of the Constitution further limits the domain of the nation's lawmakers by stating that all powers not delegated to the national government are reserved to the states or the people.