- •Министерство Финансов Российской Федерации Всероссийская государственная налоговая академия Legal English - 1
- •Unit 2 What Law Is
- •Vocabulary
- •Chapter II sources of law Unit 3 Sources of English Law
- •The Sources of English Law
- •The Principal Sources
- •Legislation
- •Judicial precedent
- •The Subsidiary Sources
- •Customs
- •Books of authority
- •Vocabulary
- •Unit 4 Sources of Modern Law
- •Text a Historical and Political Background
- •Text b Common Law Systems
- •Vocabulary
- •Vocabulary tasks
- •For You to Know
- •Text d Sources of American law
- •Vocabulary
- •Text e Continental Systems
- •For You to Remember
- •Vocabulary
- •Chapter III constitutions Unit 5 The History of Constitution
- •Vocabulary
- •Text b Characteristics of Constitutions
- •Vocabulary
- •Unit 6 British Constitution
- •The Nature of the Constitution
- •Vocabulary
- •Vocabulary tasks
- •Unit 7 us Constitution
- •Founding of the United States
- •Vocabulary
- •13 States convention written constitution
- •Vocabulary tasks
- •Chapter IV the system of government Unit 9 The British Government of Today
- •Text a The Governmental Model
- •Vocabulary
- •Vocabulary tasks
- •Text b The British Parliament
- •Vocabulary
- •The System of Government
- •Stages of a Government Bill
- •The House of Commons
- •The House of Lords
- •Making New Law
- •Text d The Prime Minister and the Cabinet
- •Vocabulary
- •Unit 10 The American Government of Today
- •System of Government in the United States
- •Vocabulary
- •Vocabulary tasks
- •Unit 11 The System of Checks and Balances
- •Vocabulary
- •Vocabulary tasks
- •Checks and Balances
- •Unit 12 Law-making Process in the usa
- •Text a The Concept of Bicameral Legislature
- •How Congress Makes Laws
- •Vocabulary
- •Federalism
- •State and Local Government
- •Three Branches of Government
- •Unit 13 The State System of Russia. The Parliament of the Russian Federation
- •Text a The State System of Russia
- •Vocabulary
- •Text b The Parliament of the Russian Federation
- •Vocabulary
Federalism
The United States has a federalist system. This means that there are individual states, each with its own government, and there is a federal, or national, government. The President appoints the department heads, who together make up the President's Cabinet, or advisers. The agencies regulate specific areas. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency tries to control pollution, while the Securities and Exchange Commission regulates the stock markets. The judicial branch interprets the laws and makes sure that new laws are in keeping with the Constitution. There are several levels of federal courts. The Supreme Court is the most important. It has nine members, who are appointed for life.
The system of checks and balances, established by the Constitution, is meant to prevent any branch from having too much power. Each branch has certain controls over the other branches. For example, Congress makes the laws but the President can veto, or reject, a law and the Supreme Court can decide a law is unconstitutional.
State and Local Government
Each state has its own constitution. Like the national government, state governments are divided into legislative, executive, and judicial. The Constitution gives certain powers to the federal government, other powers to the state governments, and yet other powers to both. For example, only the national government can print money, the states establish their own school systems, and both the national and the state governments can collect taxes.
Three Branches of Government
Within the national government, power is divided among three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
The legislative branch consists of Congress, which has two parts – the House of Representatives and the Senate. Congress's main function is to make laws. There are 100 senators (two from each state) and 435 representatives (the number from each state depends on the size of the state's population).
The President is the head of the executive branch and the country. The executive branch administers the laws (decides how the laws should be carried out). In addition to the President, the Vice-President, and their staffs, the executive branch consists of departments and agencies.
There are now 14 departments, including Treasury, State, Defense, and Health and Human Services. Each department has different responsibilities.
There are state senators and representatives and state court systems. Just as the President is the leader of the national government, each state has a governor as its leader. Below the state level of government, there are county and city governments.
Two-Party System
The United States has two main political parties – the Democratic and Republican parties. Many other smaller parties play little if any role.
Voters elect the President, as well as senators, representatives, governor, etc. A voter can choose candidates from different parties (e.g., vote for Republicans for President and vice-president and a Democrat for senator), so the President does not have to be from the party that has a majority in Congress. In recent years, in fact, voters have tended to choose Republican presidents and Democratic congress people.
There are not clear differences between the Republican and Democratic parties. In general, the Republicans tend to be more conservative and to have more support among the upper classes, while the Democrats tend to be more liberal and to have more support among the working classes and the poor.
Comprehension questions
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Have there been many changes in the Constitution since it was written?
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What does “a federal system” mean?
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How many branches of power are there and what are their functions?
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What are the main political parties and how are the elections organized?