The US System of Government

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Did you know?

• The Supreme Court is open to the public and anyone can visit during opening hours.
• Almost all the proceedings of The Supreme Court can be filmed, and sometimes broadcast. It is the only court in the United Kingdom to allow this.
• There is an exhibition about The Supreme Court on the lower ground floor of the building. This includes a special interactive display which examines previous cases, and lets you say what your decision would be.

1. Read and translate the text.

2. Make up the summary of the text.

The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states plus one independent district – the District of Columbia. Forty nine states, including Alaska, form the continental United States. The 50^th state is the state of Hawaii – a group of islands in the mid-Pacific Ocean.

The District of Columbia is the territory of the city of Washington, the national capital. Washington, D.C., is the seat of the federal government of the United States. The operation of the US government is based on the US Constitution, which was adopted by the Congress in 1789. A key feature of the US Constitution is federation, an original idea for power-sharing between states on the one hand, and the national government on the other. Another major feature of the Constitution is the principle of separation of powers within the national government, with separate legislative, executive and judicial branches.

The function of the Executive branch is to carry out the laws of the nation. It consists of the president, vice-president and the president’s cabinet. The president and the vice-president are chosen in a national election for a four-year term of office and may be reelected for the second time.

In the United States there are two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, and many small parties.

The US Constitution does not talk about political parties, but they began during George Washington’s term of office. On one side there were the Federalis. They wanted a strong federal government. On the other side, the Democratic –Republicans wanted to limit the power of the national government. Their leader was Thomas Jefferson, and their group later became the Democratic Party. Since 1854 the two major parties have been the Democrats and the Republicans.

Many people say that there is not much difference between the Republican and Democratic Parties: “Liberal” politicians usually favor reform (change) and progress. “Conservative” politicians usually oppose change. But both liberal and conservative members belong to the two major political parties, and their ideas often change with the times and issues.

The USA is a presidential republic. Supreme legislative power, Congress, is where the laws are made. Congress has two houses: the House of Representatives, where members serve two-year terms. And the Senate, whose members serve six-year terms.

The Judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court which settles any disputes involving the national government or disputes between two or more states in accordance with the Constitution.

Individual states hold sovereignty over their territory and have rights that are not reserved by the federal government. Each state has its own legislature. The federal government deals with national and international problems and problems that involve more than one state.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-26