In general 40 % of American society is a middle class.

Lower or working class constitutes 55 % of American society. This class subdivided into upper-lower class and lower-lower or underclass and poor.Upper-lower class is 42 % of American society. There are workers whose work is highly routinized, service, clericals, pink collar workers and blue collar workers. Standard of living of working class varies depending on number of income earners. Often people of upper-lower class have high school education.Lower-lower class constitutes 13 % of American society. There are people with limited participation in the labor force, reliant on government transfers. Some have finished 2ndary school. These are unemployed, disabled person and homeless.

Distribution of wealthIn the USA at the end of 2001, 10 % of the population owned 71 % of the wealth and the top 1 % owned 38 %. The bottom 40 % owned less than 1 % of the nation’s wealth.

№ 39. American family

The American family unit is in the process of change. There used to be mainly 2 types of families: the extended and the nuclear. The extended f. most often included mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, livig in the same house or nearby. Then as job patterns changed and the economy progressed from agricultural to industrial, people were forced to move to different parts of the country for job opportunities. These moves split up the extended family. The nuclear family became more prevalent; this consisted of only the parents and the children. With the divorce rate nearly one in two, there is an increase in single-parent homes: a father or mother living with one or more children. Blended f. occur when previously married men and women marry again and combine the children from former marriages into a new family. Some couples are deciding not to have children at all, so there is an increase in 2-person childless families. There also more people who live alone: single, widowed, divorced. Current information shows that 70% of children in the US live in traditional two-parent families, with 60% living with their biological parents, If considered separate from couples without children, single parent families, or unmarried couples with children, in the United States traditional nuclear families appear to constitute a minority of households with rising prevalence of other family arrangements.Today nuclear families with the original biological parents constitute roughly 24.1% of households, compared to 40.3% in 1970. Roughly 75% (or percent) of all children in the United States will spend at least some time in a single-parent household.The use of family values as a political term became widespread after a 1992 speech by Vice President Dan Quayle that attributed the Los Angeles riots to a breakdown of family values. Quayle specifically blamed the violence in L.A. as stemming from a decay of moral values and family structure in American society.Anthropologists have often supposed that the family in a traditional society forms the primary economic unit. This economic role has gradually diminished in modern times, and in societies like the United States it has become much smaller, except in certain sectors such as agriculture and in a few upper class families. In China the family as an economic unit still plays a strong role in the countryside. However, the relations between the economic role of the family, its socio-economic mode of production and cultural values remain highly complex.On the other hand family structures or its internal relationships may affect both state and religious institutions.

№ 40.Standarts of living in the Usa

Household income is a measure commonly used by the United States government and private institutions. That measure counts all the income of all residents over the age of 18 in each household, including not only all wages and salaries, but such items as unemployment insurance, disability payments, child support payments, regular rental receipts, as well as any personal business, investment, or other kinds of income received routinely. In 2007, the "real" (adjusted for inflation) median annual household income rose 1.3% to $50,233.00 according to the Census Bureau. The real median earnings of men who worked full time, year-round climbed between 2006 and 2007, from $43,460 to $45,113. For women, the corresponding increase was from $33,437 to $35,102. The median income per household member (including all working and non-working members above the age of 14) was $26,036 in 2006. United States followed the trend of other developed nations with a relatively large population of relatively affluent households outnumbering the poor. Among those in between the extremes of the income strata are a large number of households with moderately high middle class incomes and an even larger number of households with moderately low incomes.

Since 1967, the median household income in the United States has risen by 31%, fluctuating several times. The rise in household income is largely the result of an increase in personal income among college graduates, a group that has doubled in size since the 1960s, and women entering the labor force. Today, 42% of all households have two income earners. Household income increased dramatically faster for affluent households with income inequality having increased steadily since the 1970s.

The distribution of income lies at the heart of an enduring issue in political economy—the extent to which government should redistribute income from those with more income to those with less.

The distribution of pretax income in the United States today is highly unequal. The most careful studies suggest that the top 10 percent of households, with average income of about $200,000, received 42 percent of all pretax money income in the late 1990s. The top 1 percent of households, averaging $800,000 of income, received 15 percent of all pretax money income.

№ 41. Values & beliefs. Populated by immigrants who came to the New World for a better life, America has incorporated the remarkable diversity of values and belief systems of every part of the world. The words that are dear to all American hearts are: "freedom," "mobility," "individualism,” "opportunity” "energy," "pragmatism," "progress," "renewal," "competition."

Freedom (liberty)(or independence). This value was shaped by the Founding Fathers who believed that a people were equal. In reaching this goal the first settlers limited the power of gov­ernment and church, forbade the titles of nobility, and separated the church from the state. The US Constitution’s Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, assures individual rights, including provisions for freedom of speech, press, religion.

Opportunity for the individual. They have been encouraged since early childhood to be independent of others including their parents, friends and teachers. They are encouraged to develop their own goals and treat themselves as sep­arate individuals responsible for their decisions and consequently lives. Even very young children are given opportunities to make their own choices and express their opinions and children's preferences are usually accommodated. The Individualism in the United States is understood as self-reliance and economic self-sufficiency. Even though the economic system is dominated by large cor­porations, the majority of American businesses are small, and many are owned by an individual or a family. It is part of the "American Dream" to "be your own boss”.

Achievement and Success. Material wealth and hard work (Achievement, Action, Work, and Materialism). Living in a very competitive society, Americans highly appreciate personal achievement. This is measured by what the person has independently accomplished or in what he or she has been successful. Very often, it is finan­cial status. Americans are extremely proud of the fact that somebody who has been born poor managed to climb to a higher level through his or her own hard work. Being a "self-made man" or "self-made woman" is still considered to be very valuable. This attitude has created many people who are known as "worka­holics".

Free choice. A passion for choice is a key value. Directly connected with freedom, it implies an absence of political or economic restraint and an opportunity to select from numerous options. Free choice is associated with the chance to escape the problems of the past and to create a new life in the New World one has chosen to live in. many Americans follow the pattern of migration literally in changing their residence or symbolically in searching for a new start. For obvious reasons, Native Americans and African Americans had very limited possibilities to exercise the idea of free choice in the past.

Equality Americans think that all people have been "created equal" by God without regard to intelligence, physical condition or economic status. In other words all people get an equal opportunity to become successful. Americans believe that all citizens should play by the same rules, get equal punish­ments and rewards.

Patriotism. Americans love their country and believe that America is the greatest country in the world. They are very proud to be Americans. Their patriotism is revealed in national sym­bols and flags everywhere, the national anthem played at all sporting events. Patriotism is especially demonstrated during national celebrations such as Thanksgiving and Independence Day.

Time and its Control Time is a notion of great importance because "time is money". Americans are very concerned with getting things done on time. It is considered rude to be late. Americans take pride in making the best use of their time, because one can clearly accomplish more if time is not wasted.

Directness&self-confidence. Americans consider themselves to be frank and open people. They are encouraged to speak up and give their opinions. They often speak openly and directly to others about things they like or dislike. They usually show when they are angry, unhappy, confused, or happy and content.

Competition. Americans believe that competition reveals the best features in any person. Americans often compete with themselves as well as others. To beat one's own record is as good as to exceed somebody else's achievement.

The American Dream Americans believe in a better future even if the present is good. They value change more than tradition as in their understanding change leads to improvement and progress. Almost all energy is directed toward realizing that better futureIt is part of the American Dream. Americans "dream of a land in which life should be better, richer, and fuller for every man with opportunities for the each according to his abilities and achievement". Numerous rags-to-riches stones teach Americans to believe that happiness is achieved through hard work, family loyalty, and faith in the system. However, the history shows that over the years the American Dream has not been open to all. Segregation and discrimination have made the American dream more difficult to achieve for minorities.

№ 42 Patterns of settlement of the U.S. population: major internal migrations, leading population centres. The first humans in North America have migrated from Southeast Asia, via the Beringia land bridge during the glaciation. The land bridge was closed when the ice melted about 10,000 years ago. The group of people locked into the Americas developed into the Native Americans. European immigration to North America started a few decades after Columbus's arrival in 1492 and was mainly consisted of Spaniards. The first cities to be founded were Pensacola by the Spaniards, Fort Caroline by the French, and San Agustín in Florida by the Spaniards in 1565. The first successful English colony was established as a successful business enterprise in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia. English Pilgrims established a small settlement near Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620; much larger numbers of English Puritans came to Boston and near areas about 1629 to 1640. Later Britain established The Thirteen Colonies which declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States. The Dutch established settlements along the Hudson River in New York starting about 1626. In 1690 Spanish Texas appeared. In 1731 Spaniards established San Antonio. In the early years of the U.S., immigration was only about 6000 people a year. The French Revolution, starting in 1789, and the Napoleonic Wars from 1792 to 1814 limited immigration from Europe. But starting in 1820 a gradually increase in immigration was recorded. Between 1850 and 1930, about 5 million Germans emigrated to the United States. Between 1820 and 1930, 3.5 million British and 4.5 million Irish entered America. After 1840, Catholics arrived in large numbers, in part because of the famines of the 1840s. Between 1840 and 1930, about 900,000 French Canadians left Quebec to immigrate to the United States and settle, mainly in New England. The 1910s marked the high point of Italian immigration. Over two million Italians immigrated in those years, with a total of 5.3 million between 1820 and 1980. From 1880 to 1924, around 2mln Jews moved to US, mostly seeking better opportunity in America and fleeing the pogroms of the Russian Empire. After 1933 Jews who tried to flee Nazi Germany were often denied access to the United States. Immigration patterns of the 1930s were dominated by the Great Depression, which hit the U.S. hard and lasted over ten years there. More people left the U.S. than arrived in some years in the 1930s. In the last prosperous year (1929), there were 279,678 immigrants recorded, but in the depression year 1933 only 23,068 came to the U.S. At the end of WWII, "regular" immigration almost immediately increased as refugees from war torn Europe started immigrating to the U.S. Two new large immigrant groups showed up in 2000: the Chinese with 1,391,000 family members; India with 1,003,000 family members. Major zones of pop-n: Primary (Boston, Illinois, Chicago), Area of Great Plains, the Peripheral (from Great Plains to Westwards, California, Sietl) PERIODS: 1.eastwards migration 2.from rural to urban areas 3.metropolitan zones Top 10 cities in pop-n:NY, LA, Chicago, Huston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose.

№ 43.The US Constitution is the country's most important political document. It is short, containing 4543 words, including the signatures. But those words define the basic structure of modern American government. It is a comprehensive document that divides the government into three branches(the legislative branch with a bicameral Congress, an executive branch led by the President, and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court) and describes the powers of those branch­es, their relationships and the interaction between the government and the governed. The Constitution makes itself the supreme law of the land.

The U.S. Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. James Madison is The "Father of the Constitution," he was the principal author of the document. The document begins with the Preamble. It holds in its words the hopes and dreams of the delegates to the convention, a justification for what they had done. The Preamble is followed by 7 Articles. 27 amendments have been added to its original text. The first ten amendments, known as The Bill of Rights, were introduced by James Madison, who is known as “Father of the Constitution” and came into effect in 1791. These amendments remain intact today, though they were written two centuries ago.Taken together, the twenty-seven amendments that have been ratified have done much to democratize the Constitution. The number of constitutional rights have been increased, citizenship has been broadened, and suffrage has been expanded.Although the Constitution has changed in many aspects since it was first adopted, its basic principles remain the same now as in 1789. The framers of the Constitution debated and agreed to the following six basic principles:

1)All States would be equal. The National Government cannot give special privileges to one State.

2)There should be three branches of Government — one to make the laws, another to execute them, and a third to interpret them.

3)The Government is a government of laws, not of men. No one is above the law. No officer of the Government can use authority unless and except as the constitution or pub­lic law permits.

4)All men are equal before the law and that anyone, rich or poor, can demand the pro­tection of the law.

5)The people can change the authority of the Government by changing (amending} the Constitution.

6)The Constitution, and the laws of the United States and treaties made pursuant to it, are "the supreme Law of the Land".

№ 44. The Us Congress

The Congress of the United States consists of two Houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Its residence is on Capitol Hill, in the center of Washington. The Senate, the smaller House, is composed of two members from each state, as provided by the Constitution. Membership in the House of Representatives is based on the number of population; therefore its size is not mentioned in the Constitution. To be elected to the Senate a person must be at least 30 years of age, a citizen of the United States for at least 9 years, and a resident of the state from which he or she is elected. To become a member of the House of Representatives a person must be at least 25, a citizen for 7 years, and a resident of the state which he represents.

Each state, regardless of population, has two Senators. So, there are 100 Senators in the Senate from fifty states. The number of members of the House of Representatives is 435. This number was finally determined by Congress in 1913 and has never changed since that time. While a Senator represents his home state, each member of the House of Representatives represents a district in his home state. The size of a district or a constituency today is 530,000 persons.

Senators are elected for a term of six years, but one third of the Senate is elected every two years. So, two Senators from the same state never finish their terms at the same time. Hence, two-thirds of the Senators are always persons with some legislative experience. Members of the House of Representatives are elected for two years. But in practice most members are reelected several times, and the House, like the Senate, may rely on a group of experienced legislators.

Congress meets in regular sessions, beginning with January 3, almost all the year round. The President may call a special session when he thinks it necessary. Sessions are held in the Capitol in Washington, D. C.

The presiding officer of the House of Representatives is the Speaker (Nancy Pelosi since January 4, 2007), who, as a member of the House, is elected by its members at the start of each Congress. His pres­tige is rather high; he is second to the Vice President in the line of presidential succes­sion. By Constitution the presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice President(Joe Biden since January 20, 2009). The Senate chooses a President to preside when the Vice President is absent.

At the beginning of each new Congress, members of the political parties select their political leaders in both Houses (the leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties). These majority party leaders together with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Vice President constitute the "Big Four". They maintain close contacts with the President, exercise strong influence over the making of laws and have a direct hand in the consideration of current home and foreign policy.

The legislative work of Congress is done mostly in standing commit­tees. Today there are 22 standing committees in the House of Representatives and 16 in the Senate, plus 4 joint permanent committees with members from both Houses. With the increase in the amount of work, the standing committees have over 300 subcommitees study specific problems. Each standing committee specializes in certain spheres of lawmaking: foreign affairs, defence, finance, agriculture, commerce and other fields.

The committees are headed by influential chairpersons. The majority party in each House controls the committee work. Minority parties are proportionally represented in the com­mittees according to their numbers in each House.

№ 45.The law-making process in the us congress

The Congress is the supreme legislative organ. The Senate and the House of Representatives have equal constitutional rights. Each House has the power to introduce bills on any subject. Important bills may be suggested by the President or other execu­tive officials. After introduction all bills are sent to certain committees. When a committee is in favour of a bill, it is sent to the Congress for open debate. When the debate is over, members vote to approve the bill or to defeat it. A bill passed by one House, is sent to the other. After the bill is passed by both Houses, it is sent to the President for his approval. However, the President has the right to veto the bill. The bill vetoed by the President must be re-approved by a two-thirds vote in both Houses to become law, an Act of Congress. The bills, proposed by the White House or the Cabinet, usually pass all the stages with­out any difficulty.

№ 46. The USA presidency

The President of the United States is head of the executive power, or the Chief Executive, and his office is one of the most powerful in the world. Under the Constitution he must "take care, that the laws be faithfully executed". In addition he has important leg­islative and judicial powers. The official residence and office of the President is in the White House, Washington, D. C.

Constitutional qualifications for the Presidency are relatively simple: the President must be at least 35 years old, a resident of the country for at least 14 years and a nation­al born citizen.The President(Barack Obama since January 20, 2009), together with the Vice President(Joe Biden since January 20, 2009), is elected to a four-year-term. The 22^nd Amendment to the Constitution, 1951, limited the Presidency to no more that two terms. Franklin D. Roosevelt had been the only President to be elected four times (the first time in 1933).

If a President dies or is unable to carry out his duties, he is succeeded by the Vice President. Next in line of succession to the Presidency come the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate (who presides over the Senate when the Vice President is absent). After them in order of importance, come the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Treasury, the Secretary of Defence and the rest of the cabinet ministers.

As head of the government , the President must carry out the government programmes. He has an important legislative role. He recommends laws to Congress and requests money for federal government operations. He can veto any bill passed by Congress, and his veto may be overruled by a two-thirds vote in both Houses of Congress. The President, as head of a political party and as chief executive officer of re government, has a strong influence on public opinion, on what the course of legisla­tion in Congress very often depends. Within the executive branch, the President has broad powers to issue so-called executive orders, which have the force of law. He is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United States.

The President has the authority to appoint the heads of all executive departments and agencies, together with hundreds of other high-ranking officials, including judges, from the district court level to the US Supreme Court. Each appointment must be approved by the Senate.One more important function of the President is that he can grant a full or condition­al pardon to anyone accused of breaking a federal law — make shorter prison sentences and reduce fines.Under the Constitution the President is responsible for foreign relations with other nations. With the Secretary of State, the President manages all official contacts with for­eign governments, and concludes treaties with other countries. Such treaties must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate.

Everyday work of the government is carried out by different executive departments (ministries), created by Congress to deal with national and international affairs. The neads (ministers) of these departments, chosen by the President and approved by the Senate, form the Cabinet. Today, these 15 departments are: State, Treasury, Defence, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labour, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security. Each department has thou­sands of employees, with offices all over the country as well as in Washington. In addition to the executive departments, there are over fifty agencies in the Federal Government, the heads of which are directly responsible to the president. Each executive agency has certain duties and responsibilities.

№47. Presidential campaign in the USA(Election)

The method of electing a President is peculiar to the United States. The presidential election is technically an election of presidential electors, not of a President directly. The people of each state do not vote directly for the President. They elect as many electors as this state has Senators and Representatives in the Congress. These electors are selected exclusively by the corresponding party machines. The candidate with the high­est number of votes in each state wins all the electoral votes of the state.

The electors of all 50 states and the District of Columbia (3 electors) — a total of 538 persons — compose what is known as the Electoral College. The electors gather in the state capitals shortly after the election and cast their votes for the candidate with the largest number of popular votes in their respective states. To be elected President, a candidate for the Presidency must receive 270 votes. The presidential elections of 2000 revealed the inadequacy of the existing system.

The Constitution provides, that if no candidate has a majority, the decision should be made by the House of Representatives, with all members from a state voting as a unit. In this case, each state and the District of Columbia would be given one vote only.

Candidates for the Presidency are chosen by political parties several months before the presidential election, which is held every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

The presidential term of four years begins on January 20 (the next year). He starts his official duties with an inauguration ceremony, traditionally held on the steps of the Capitol, where Congress works. The newly-elected President publicly takes an oath of office, which is traditionally administered by the Chief Justice of the United States(John G. Roberts, Jr. since September 29, 2005). The words of the oath are provided by the Constitution:"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States".

№ 48. The 2 party system in the USA

The United States has two main political parties -the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. There are other, much smaller, parties, which play little, if any, role. There are no 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 class and the poor. Democrats symbol is a donkey, Republicans symbol is an elephant.

The Democratic Party: Thomas Jefferson founded the DP in 1792 as a congressional assem­bly to fight for the Bill of Rights and against the elitist Federalist Party. In 1800 Jefferson was elected as the first Democratic President of the United States. served two distinguished terms . Madison (1808) strength­ened America's armed forces — helping reaffirm American independence. Andrew Jackson — along with Jefferson — one of the founding fathers of the DP. In 1848, the National Convention established the Democratic National Committee (DNC), now the longest running political organization in the world. The DP embraced the immigrants who flooded into cities and industrial centers, built a political base by bringing them into the American mainstream, and helped create the most powerful economic engine in history. DP leader William Jennings Bryan led a movement of agrarian reformers and supported the right of women's suffrage, the progressive graduated income tax. In 1912,Woodrow Wilson became the first Democratic president of the 20^th century, fought for the League of Nations, established the Federal Reserve Board, and passed the first labour and child welfare laws. Franklin Roosevelt was elected president running on the promise of a New Deal. He pulled America out of the Depression, brought water to California's Central Valley, electrified Appalachia and saved farms across the Midwest. With the election of Harry Truman, Democrats began the fight to bring down the final barriers of race and gender. In the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed a New Frontier and dared Americans to put a man on the moon. In 1998, the Democrats became the first party controlling the White House to gain seats in Congress during the sixth year of a president's term since 1822.In the 2000 elections, Democrats won additional seats in both Houses of the Congress. @@@The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party boasts the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the United States. Since the 2006 general elections, the DP has been the majority party in both the House of Representatives and the US Senate. Democrats also hold a majority of state governorships and control a majority of state legislatures. Barack Obama, the current President of the United States, is the 15th Democrat to hold the office. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is responsible for promoting Democratic campaign activities. While the DNC is responsible for overseeing the process of writing the Democratic Platform, the DNC is more focused on campaign and organizational strategy than public policy. In presidential elections, it supervises the DNC. The national convention is, subject to the charter of the party, the ultimate authority within the DP when it is in session, with the DNC running the party's organization at other times. The DNC is currently chaired by former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.

The Republican Party: Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In 1856, the Republicans became a national party when John C. Fremont was nominated for President under the slogan: "Free soil, free labour, free speech, free men, Fremont". , in January 1863, against the advice of his cabinet, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves.

The RP also played a leading role in securing women the right to vote. The first woman elected to Congress was a Republican, Jeanette Rankin from Montana in 1917. Republicans have a long and rich history with basic principles: Individuals, not government, can make the best decisions; all people are enti­tled to equal rights; and decisions are best made close to home. The principles of RP are Abolishing slavery. Free speech. Women's suffrage. Republicans believe:1)the strength of the nation lies with the individual and that each person's dignity,freedom, ability and responsibility must be honoured.2)equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all3)free enterprise and encreasing individual initiative have brought the nation 4)opportunity, economic growth and prosperity5)that government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn,6)that the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.