The judicial branch

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the land. It has a chief justice and eight associate justices. The President appoints all justices with the approval of the Senate. The justices hold office for life.

About 95 federal district courts are located in various cities. Above the district courts are 13 federal courts of appeals, often called Circuit courts. Above the courts of appeals is the Supreme Court. Decisions of a district court may be appealed to an appeals court, and from the appeals court to the Supreme Court. Federal courts decide cases that involve the Constitution and federal laws. Judges of these courts hold office for life. The President appoints them with the approval of the Senate.

The American people have a strong voice in their government. They can exercise their democratic rights by voting in national, state, and local elections, and by working in political parties and campaigns.

The two-party system. The United States has two major political parties, the Democratic and the Republican. Members of these two parties hold almost all the offices in the national, state, and local governments.

Minor political parties of the United States rarely elect candidates to government offices. They serve chiefly to rail attention to problems that the major parties may have neglected. Often, one or both of the major parties may then attempt to solve such a problem. Then the third party, which brought attention to the problem, may disappear.

National elections to elect a President and vice-President are held every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. All members of the House of Representatives and about one-third of the members of the Senate are elected at the same time. Between the Presidential elections, all of the representatives and another one-third of the senators are elected. This election is held on the same day in November in even-numbered years.

Federal and state laws regulate elections and the qualifications of voters. Most states hold primary elections in which party members nominate candidates for state and local offices. Some states use primary elections to nominate candidates for Congress. National political conventions nominate candidates for President and vice-President.

The President is not elected directly by the people. At Presidential elections voters cast their votes for electors. The electors make up the Electoral College, which officially elects the President.

Each state has as many electors as the total of its senators and representatives in Congress. The District of Columbia has three electors. The candidate who receives the highest number of a state's popular votes usually receives all that state's electoral votes. A candidate for President must receive a majority of the electoral votes to become President: however, a candidate may be elected President without having received a majority of the popular vote.

1. How does the United States government differ from most other national governments?

2. What are the three branches of the United States government?

3. What are two exclusive powers of the House of Representatives?

4. Who enforces the laws that Congress passes?

5. What body interprets the laws if the necessity arises?

6. How many levels of government operation are there in the USA?

7. What powers does the federal government exercise?

8. What are the powers of states?

9. What bodies exercise concurrent powers?

10. What are the duties of the President?

11. Where are federal laws made, repealed and amended?

12. How many members are there in the Senate and the House of representatives?

13. How are the justices of the Supreme Court appointed?

14. What other courts besides the Supreme Court are there in the US judicial branch?

15. How would you characterize the US party system?

16. How often are national elections held?

Task 2. Read, translate the text and write down all the unknown words and expressions.