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Private and Public Institutions

According to the U.S. Department of Education, there are more than 1,400 private and over 500 public institutions that offer either four years or two years of undergraduate education. Private institutions are those which depend primarily on non-government funding sources and student fees for financial support. Public institutions depend primarily on state funds for their support. Most of the large universities in the U.S. are state-supported.

Major

A major is the primary area of concentration (for instance, English literature, Biology, Political Science, etc.). Students are often required to take the majority of their courses in their declared major. There may also be some other courses related to the major which are required by institutions of higher education for the completion of a degree. A student can also have one or two minors.

General Education Courses

Many institutions of higher education require students to take courses in several general areas, such as English, Mathematics, and Social Science. The purpose of these general education requirements is to give students a more balanced education.

4.21. Do some research on the educational system in Great Britain. Compare it with that of Russia and the usa. Present the result of your research to the class.

T

4.22. A) Scan the text and draw a chart of the power branches in Russia. Give

a short presentation on it to class.

he Russian Federation became an independent state in December 1991 as a result of the collapse of the USSR. During the Communist era the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was the largest of the USSR’s 15 republics. The present Russian Federation occupies the same territory as the former RSFSR. Since independence, Russia has adopted a new constitution and a system of government.

Russia is a federal and presidential republic governed under a constitution that took effect in 1993, replacing the 1978 constitution of the RSFSR. The central government is composed of three independent branches:

- Executive  Power is concentrated in the executive branch, which is headed by a president. He or she is directly elected by the people to a four-year term and cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. The president serves as the commander in chief of the armed forces and chairs the Security Council, which is the central decision-making body for matters of defense. With the defense minister, the president has control over Russia’s nuclear weapons. The president appoints the prime minister, who is second in command. The appointment is subject to ratification by the State Duma, the lower house of parliament; if the State Duma rejects the candidate for prime minister three times, the president can dissolve the legislature and call for new elections.

- The legislative branch is represented by the Federal Assembly, which is Russia’s bicameral national legislature. It is composed of an upper house, called the Council of the Federation, and a lower house, the State Duma. The Council of the Federation includes two representatives from each of the administrative units that make up the Russian Federation. The State Duma has 450 members. Voters elect half of the Duma members by casting a vote for a specific party listed on the ballot; these 225 seats are divided among the qualifying parties by proportional representation. The other 225 Duma members are elected individually from electoral districts throughout the country.

- The highest judicial body is the Constitutional Court, composed of 19 judges who are appointed by the president and approved by the Council of the Federation. Below the Constitutional Court are the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court. The Supreme Court rules on civil, criminal, and administrative law, and the Supreme Arbitration Court handles economic suits.

The government is responsible to the president, and the executive branch is considerably more powerful than the other two branches. To some extent, presidential decrees can take the place of laws, thereby evading legislative scrutiny. Furthermore, the legislature has only limited rights to investigate government activity. Nevertheless, the legislature can reject the budget, draft legislation, publicize government errors and malpractice, and, at the price of its own dissolution and new parliamentary elections, bring down the government by repeated votes of no confidence.

A new constitution, ratified by referendum in December 1993, greatly increased the power of the presidency, it also established basic democratic guidelines, such as fixed terms of office, electoral procedures, and universal suffrage for all citizens aged 18 or older. The constitution also guarantees civil rights and the rule of law.

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