Fill in the following table. Great Britain USA Russia Head of executive branch Term of office

 

	Great Britain	USA	Russia
Head of executive branch
Term of office
Elected/appointed
Number of bodies
Members of executive bodies

 

TEXT TRANSLATION.

КАБИНЕТ или кабинет министров - название правительства в целом либо его части, либо совокупности министров в некоторых государствах. В ряде стран (например, в Великобритании) понятие правительства и Кабинет не совпадают. В этих странах термин " правительство" означает совокупность всех глав центральных исполнительных ведомств (министерств, департаментов) и некоторых высших государственных чиновников, в то время как Кабинет представляет собой более узкую коллегию, состоящую из руководителей важнейших министерств. Кабинет возглавляется главой правительства (в Великобритании, ФРГ, Италии и др. Парламентарных государствах) или главой государства (в США и др. Президентских республиках). В Великобритании в состав Кабинета входит лишь часть министров. Кабинет является органом, обычно не упоминаемым в конституциях. Его состав определяется премьером, который может не только вводить в состав Кабинета тех или иных министров, но и определять его численность. Английский Кабинет - орган, сосредоточивающий фактически в своих руках всю полноту государственной власти. В некоторых странах учреждается орган, по своему составу еще более узкий, чем Кабинет. Это " внутренний КАБИНЕТ " в Великобритании или " кухонный КАБИНЕТ " в США. Они представляют собой очень узкие коллегии, состоящие из лиц, наиболее приближенных к главе правительства, и возглавляемые соответственно премьер-министром или президентом. Деятельность этих органов негласна. В некоторых странах правительство называется КАБИНЕТ, когда оно действует без участия президента, и советом министров, когда на его заседаниях председательствует президент.

 

PRESENTATION:  FAMOUS POLITICIANS.

 

 

PART II ELECTIONS IN THE USA AND THE UK

UNIT 4

                                     Text 1 Elections in the USA

Before you read. Think over the following questions:

- Say some words about major changes that have recently taken place in the political life of your native country or the country your studies are connected with. What were the reasons for them? What have they resulted in?

Read the following text. Translate the underlined passage into Russian.

 

The nature of the electoral system in the United States of America is complex as there are many elections and not all of which are held at the same time. The president and vice-president, one-third of the Senate, and every member of the House of Representatives are elected at the same time every four years, and two years later the mid-term elections involve all representatives and one-third of the Senate. Voters must meet a number of legal requirements or qualifications. Candidates who appear in the ballot must also have qualified under state law.

 

Voting is a basic right guaranteed by the US Constitution, but individual states set many requirements for voting, concerned with residence, the need to register, the holding of primary elections, and the form of the ballot.

 

The US Constitution provides for the popular election of members of the House of Representatives, but senators initially were appointed by state legislatures.

 

All members of the House are elected every two years, as well as one-third of the Senate is elected also every two years. A senator’s full term in office is six years. The Constitution does not provide for the popular election of the president.

Instead of voting directly for a president, the Constitution provides that each state shall appoint electors equal in number to their representation in Congress, and the electors’ votes are cast every four years in early November.

 

The presidential candidate receiving the most votes in a state obtains the whole of the Electoral College vote of that state. Each state sends its results to Washington, where the electoral votes are counted by Congress in joint session on 6 January. The candidate with a majority of the electoral votes is elected president.

 

The presidential election is the most important election, and it can, and has, been criticized on several grounds.

First, the fact that if a candidate carries a state by a handful of votes he or she wins all of the electoral votes of that state. It is therefore possible for a president to be elected if he has not received the largest number of popular votes.

 

Second, the ‘winner-takes-all’ system further distorts the popular vote in that some small states have a larger electoral college vote than their population might warrant (each state having two senators irrespective of population), while candidates are tempted to seek to win in the populous states with large electoral college votes, perhaps appealing to small voting blocs whose support could be decisive in these states.

Third, electors are not constitutionally bound to vote for the candidate to whom they are ostensibly pledged. In 1968 and 1972 single electors did defect. It is also possible for no candidate to win a majority of the electoral college vote necessary for election. Should this occur, the election is decided by the newly elected House of Representatives, each state delegation having one vote.

Exercises

 

1. Find equivalents of the following:

electoral system, the House of Representatives, mid-term elections, legal requirements, qualifications, in the ballot, qualified under state law, primary elections, popular election, electors, on several grounds, carries a state by a handful of votes, the ‘winner-takes-all’, to distort the popular vote, warrant, irrespective of, populous states, voting blocs, bound to vote, ostensibly, pledge, single electors, newly elected.

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