Vocabulary tasks

A Fill in the gaps choosing appropriate words from the box.

abuse adopts at a time checked branch concentration the Congress independent President powers separate

Checks and Balances

Two ideas underlie the separation of 1) ______ . The first is that, to avoid too much 2) ______ of power, the same people should not legislate, govern and judge. Each branch of the state should be 3) ______ of the others. But if each branch is independent of the others, the danger is that they will each go their own way and 4) ______ their powers. To avoid this, a second idea comes into play. There should be some way in which each 5) ______ can be kept in check by the others.

The American Constitution 6) ______ both these ideas. The three branches of the state are 7) ______. The legislature is 8) ______, consisting of an upper House (Senate) and a lower House (House of Representatives). Executive power is in the hands of the 9) ______, who heads the government. Judicial power is in the Supreme Court. No one can be both a legislator and a member of the government, or a legislator and a judge, or a member of the government and a judge. The three branches are separate in that no one can belong to two of them 10) ______. But each can be 11) ______ by the others if it abuses its powers.

B Match these words and phrases with their definitions.

1	checks and balances	a	formal agreement between two or more countries
2	separation of powers	b	the right to refuse to allow something to be done, especially the right to stop a law from being passed
3	bicameral legislature	c	the principle of government by which the President, Congress and the Supreme Court each have control over the others
4	a review	d	having two main parts such as the Senate and the House of Representatives
5	a treaty	e	the principle of the US Constitution that the political power of the government is divided between the President, Congress and the Supreme Court
6	a veto	f	to use your authority to reject somebody’s decision, order, etc.
7	to override	g	an examination of something with the intention of changing if necessary

Over to you.

1. How does the president’s veto power illustrate the system of checks and balances?

2. How does the investigative power of Congress illustrate the system of checks and balances?

Unit 12 Law-making Process in the usa

Before you read

Answer these questions.

1 What are laws necessary for?

2 Why are new laws adopted?

Text a The Concept of Bicameral Legislature

The US Congress, the lawmaking arm of the federal government, consists of two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Any congressman in either house, or the President, may initiate new legislation (but only the House of Representatives proposes finance bills).

The proposed legislation, or bill, is first introduced in the House of Representatives, then referred to one of the standing committees. The committee responsible for a particular bill holds hearings on it. Experts appear before the committee and offer suggestions and opinions about the bill. After the hearings, the committee reports its recommendations to the House. These recommendations may include suggested changes in the bill, or the committee may propose an entirely new one. Committee recommendations are of great importance because, when the legislators vote on a bill, they usually follow the committee report. If a committee chooses not to consider the bill, the bill dies. It is nearly impossible for a bill to reach the House or Senate floor without first winning committee approval. If the committee passes the bill, it is considered by the House of Representatives as a whole. If passed here, it goes to the Senate for a similar sequence of committee hearings and general debate.

In cases of disagreement, the House of Representatives and the Senate confer together. Once passed by the Senate as a whole, the bill has to be examined by two more standing committees – the Committee on House Administration and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration – and is then signed by the speaker of the House and by the president of the Senate.

Finally, it must be signed by the President.

The bill becomes law following one or several steps by the President. He may approve the bill and sign it; he may sign the bill with a statement expressing his disapproval; or he may simply not sign the bill, in which case it automatically becomes law after ten days. But if the President wants to prevent the bill from becoming law, he vetoes it. But the proposal may still become law if two-thirds of each house of Congress then vote for it, thus overriding, or defeating the President’s veto. This does not happen often. The President may also use the “pocket veto” by withholding his signature within ten days of congressional adjournment.