The Distribution of Powers in us Government

Delegated powers	Reserved powers	Concurrent powers
Regulate interstate and international trade Coin money Declare war Maintain armed forces Establish a postal system Enforce copyrights Sign treaties	Regulate intrastate trade Establish schools Establish local governments Pass statewide laws (ex. safety belt laws) Run elections	Power to tax Maintain courts Borrow money

Scanning

1. Answer the following questions.

1. Why didn’t the US Founding Fathers create a unitary government in the country?

2. How do the federal and state governments exercise power over the US people?

3. What forms of government do individual states have?

4. Can states ignore or contradict federal laws and the US Constitution?

5. What government is superior? Why?

6. What government are delegated powers granted to? What are they?

7. What powers are state governments delegated to?

8. What powers do the federal and state governments have simultaneously?

9. What governmental powers aren’t specifically delegated in the US Constitution?

10. What powers of the American government are called denied powers?

2. Read the following sentences and say whether they are true or false.

1. Federalism refers to the division of governmental powers between the national and state governments.

2. The US Founding Fathers created a federal system to restrict the powers of states.

3. Under federalism, both state and national governments may directly govern through their own officials and laws.

4. The Constitution and acts of the national government that conform to it are inferior to constitutions, laws, and actions of state and local governments.

5. The states can either ignore or contradict federal laws and the Constitution.

6. Federalism is a central principle of the Constitution, and the balance of power between the state and national governments was defined exactly at the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

7. Delegated Powers are those powers which are specifically assigned to the US Federal Government.

8. Reserved Powers are those that both the federal and state governments have simultaneously. 

9. Implied Powers are the powers that are not specifically delegated in the US Constitution, but are understood to be necessary or allowed.

10. The creation of denied powers was a specific way in which the US Founding Fathers attempted to create a limited government.

Word Study

1. Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases:

• to overcome a tough political obstacle

• to do away with

• unattainable

• a due supremacy

• to derive legitimacy from

• to endow smb. with smth.

• to exercise power

• to be granted to

• to obey laws

• to overstep one’s bounds

2. Use the words in the sentences of your own.

3. Fill in the table as in the example.

Verb	Noun	Adjective
to limit	limitation	limited
		assigned
to derive
	distribution
		reserved
	contradiction
		concurrent
	regulation
to deny

4. Write the opposite of the following words, using prefixes:

obey - disobey attainable agree limited allow necessary exactly

regulate directly establish proper balance legitimacy

5. Translate the following text from Russian into English.

По конституции США, принятой в 1787 году, определенные полномочия для осуществления государственной власти переданы федеральному правительству США. Государственные полномочия, не определенные для передачи в ведение федерального правительства конституцией, осуществляются штатами США.

Федеративное устройство страны в значительной мере дополняет и гарантирует эффективность действия исторически сложившейся и существующей системы "сдержек и противовесов" во властном механизме американского государства. Первые 75 лет развития политической системы США (1790-1865) были отмечены непрерывными конституционными и политическими конфликтами относительно природы американского федерализма. Федералисты стали выступать за расширение полномочий федеральной власти, в то время как Томас Джефферсон, Джеймс Мэдисон и их коллеги по партии утверждали, что союз американских штатов представлял собой лишь конфедерацию, в которой вся власть и суверенитет были сосредоточены на уровне штатов. К 50-м годам прошлого столетия центральным вопросом стал вопрос о том, является ли институт рабства делом федеральной политики или политики штата.

В результате Гражданской войны в Америке (1860-1865) были сняты многие вопросы федерализма. Победа Севера и последовавшее за этим принятие 13, 14 и 15 поправок к Конституции положили конец рабству, дали четкое определение понятию гражданства, ограничили полномочия штатов в области гражданских прав и свобод и в целом обеспечили примат национальной Конституции и законодательства над законодательством штатов.

6. Сomment on the following statements.

1. The US states have been called “the laboratories of democracy”.

2. The basic political fact of federalism is that it creates separate, self-sustaining centers of power, prestige and profit. (David. B. Truman)

3. The virtue of the federal system lies in the ability to develop and maintain mechanisms vital to the perpetuation of the unique combination of governmental strength, political flexibility and individual liberty, which has been the central concern of American politics.

Speaking

Prepare the summary of the text using the following word combinations.

• to create a strong central government

• to not exclude the states

• to exercise power

• to be granted to

• to be shared by both federal and state governments

• the balance of power between the state and national governments

• delegated powers

• to be reserved or saved for

• concurrent powers

• implied powers

• to create a limited government

UNIT II