Vocabulary notes

Settlement - поселение

Abundant - обильный

Persecution - преследование

tax revenues – налоговые поступления в казну

interfere - вмешиваться

refuge - убежище

toleration - терпимость

prosperity - процветание

Disguised - замаскированные

Rebellion – восстание, бунт

Besiege - осаждать

Alliance - союз

Troop - войско

Ban - запрещать

Invade – вторгаться, оккупировать

Slavery - рабство

Abolish - отменять

to declare war – объявлять войну

surrender - сдаваться

acquisition - приобретение

conscription – воинская повинность

Assassinate – покушаться на жизнь

Amendments – поправки (конституционные)

Tribe - племя

Incandescent - раскаленный

Armistice - разоружение

mutual aid - взаимопомощь

Government

Introduction

The United States is a federal union of 50 states, with the District of Columbia as the seat of the federal government. The Constitution outlines the structure of the national government and specifies its powers and activities, and defines the relationship between the national government and individual state governments. Power is shared between the national and state (local) governments. Within each state are counties, townships, cities and villages, each of which has its own elective government.

Article 1 of the Constitution defines the legislative branch and vests power to legislate in the Congress of the United States. The executive powers of the President are defined in Article 2. Article 3 places judicial power in the hands of one Supreme Court and inferior courts as Congress sees necessary to establish.

The Constitution

The American Constitution is the oldest written constitution in force in the world.  The authors of the Constitution built in a provision for amending the document when political, social or economic conditions demanded it.  Twenty-seven amendments have been passed since ratification. The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, called the Bill of Rights, assure individual rights and freedoms. 

The Constitution divides the powers of the government into three branches - the Executive, headed by the President; the Legislative, which includes both houses of Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives); and the Judicial, which is headed by the Supreme Court. In this system of a "separation of powers" each branch operates independently of the others. The Constitution limits the role of each branch, through a system of checks and balances, to prevent any one branch from gaining undue power.

The Executive Branch

The chief executive of the United States is the president, who together with the vice-president is elected to a four year term.  As a result of a 1951 constitutional amendment, a president may be elected to only two terms.  The president's powers are formidable but not unlimited.  As the chief formulator of national policy, the president proposes legislation to Congress and may veto any bill passed by Congress.  The president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. 

The executive branch of the Government is responsible for enforcing the laws of the land. The Vice President, department heads (Cabinet members), and heads of independent agencies assist in this capacity.

The executive branch includes 15 executive departments, the Executive Office of the President and numerous other independent agencies.  The day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal law is in the hands of the various executive departments, created by Congress to deal with specific areas of national and international affairs.  The heads of the departments, chosen by the President and approved by the Senate, form a council of advisers known as the President's Cabinet.