- •1. The reasons for ethnic and social diversity of American society.
- •2. America as a country of immigrants. Change of immigration patterns throughout history.
- •3. The geographical reasons for diversity in America. The main cultural regions: the location, the most important cities, places of interest, the most interesting cultural facts, the people.
- •4. The development of American culture in the 20-s of the XX-th century.
- •5. American society in the second half of the XX-th - the beginning of the XXI centuries.
- •6. American Constitution, its role and characteristic features
- •7. The three branches of power. The way they interact with each other.
- •8. The structure and functions of the American government.
- •9. The most important political parties. Presidential elections. Congressmen and senators – their powers and duties.
- •10. American economy.(лекция) The way Americans understand competition. The Invisible hand.
- •11. The role of the government in American economy.
- •12. The most important American values. The history of the nation reflected in them.
- •1. Geography of the United Kingdom (General Characteristics. The Relief and Borders of the Country. Climate. Mineral and Energy Resources. Environmental Issues)
- •2. Demographic and Religious Diversity in the United Kingdom.
- •3. The Political System of the United Kingdom (The Government. The Monarchy)
- •4. The Constitution of the United Kingdom.
- •5. The Economic System of the United Kingdom
- •6. Cultural symbols of the United Kingdom.
- •7. National symbols of the United Kingdom (flag, coat-on-arms, anthem)
- •8. British music.
- •9. British art
- •10. British cinema
- •14. The structure of the Federal Government. The system of checks and balances.
- •15. The Congress of the us. Supreme legislative body.
- •16. President as the head of the Executive power, the us administration.
14. The structure of the Federal Government. The system of checks and balances.
The US is a democratic republic. The National Government is the gov.of all the people and their representatives. It’s called thr Federal Gov. because the nation is a federation of states. The US Constitution gave the FG oonly limited powers, all others belong to the individual states. The main principles of the governmental system: 1)separation of powers, 2)system of checks&balances, 3)federalism. 1)There are 3 branches of powers: than the federal.
National (federal) level: Congress – President, Administration – legislative, executive, judicial. Each branch has dif.functions. no member of one branch can have a seat in the other two. 2) this system implies that each branch is checked and controlled by the other 2. this is to keep any branch from gaining too much power or from misusing its powers. The system makes compromise and consensus necessary. The system protects against extremes.
3) the division between the national gov, state and local gov-s. federalism is more efficient for large land massesbecause the local gov is much closer to their people Supreme court, Federal courts. State: S.Legislature – Gov – S.Courts. Local (City): City Council – Mayor – Municipal Courts.
15. The Congress of the us. Supreme legislative body.
Congress meets in Washington DCconsists of 2 chambers: the Senate&the House of Representatives. The composition of C reflects the historical background of the Constitution. All states are representated equally in the Senate. 2 senators from each state independent of their territory and population, thus 100 members, each elected for a term of 6 years. The elections are held every 2 years and 1/3 of the S is elected. A Senator must be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the USA for at least 10 years. The S is presided over by Vice President. He doesn’t vote but does cast a desiding vote in the case of a tie. The S is the only body to try all impeachments– accusations of a public officer for treason or misconduct during the term of office.
The House of Representatives has 435 members+3 for Washington DC who are elected every 2 years. They must be at least 25 years old, citizens of the US for at least 7 years. Repressentation is based on population. The country is divided into congressional districts with equal population in each. Each state, no matter how small its population is, has at least 1 representative. In the USA there are on the whole 538 Congressmen (100+435+3). The presiding person of the HR is the speaker.
The work of both houses is largely done in committees. There are 16 permanent committees in the Senate and 20 in the H of Repr. The main function of the committee is to inquire into each bill and to recommend whether the bill should be accepted or not, or to recommend changes to it. Legislation can originate in either the S or the H of Repr., but before any bill is sent to the President for signature, it must be passed by both houses. Besides the main power of Congress of passing laws, there are some more powers: approve state budget, set federal taxes, approve presidential appointments, overrule presidential vetos, declare war, impeach the president.