|
1. settler [ʹsetlə] n |
– поселенец, колонист |
|
2. balanced [‘bælənst] adj |
– пропорциональный, сбалансированный |
|
3. amendment [ə’men(d)mənt] n |
– поправка (к резолюции, законопроекту) |
|
4. Bill of Rights [͵bıləvʹraıts] |
– билль о правах первые десять поправок к конституции США |
|
5. banning n |
– запрещение |
|
6. slavery [ʹsleıv(ə)rı] n |
– рабство |
|
7. vote [vəut] v |
– голосовать |
|
8. governor [‘gʌv(ə)nə] n |
– губернатор |
|
9. legislative assembly |
– законодательное собрание |
|
10. elect [ɪ’lekt] v |
– избирать |
|
11. Defense |
– министерство обороны |
|
12. appoint [ə’pɔɪnt] v |
– назначать |
|
13. FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation |
– ФБР, Федеральное бюро расследований (США) |
|
14. CIA Central Intelligence Agency |
– Центральное разведывательное управление, ЦРУ (США) |
|
15. Congress [‘kɔŋgres] n |
– Конгресс США |
|
16. approve [ə’pruːv] v |
– одобрять |
|
17. domestic affairs |
– внутренние дела |
|
18. ambassador [æm’bæsədə] n |
– посол |
|
19. Senate [‘senɪt] n |
– сенат (верхняя палата конгресса США) |
|
20. government committee |
– правительственный комитет |
|
21. declare [dɪ’kleə] v |
– заявлять, объявлять |
|
22. unemployment benefits UBs |
– пособие [выплаты] по безработице |
|
23. gambling [‘gæmblɪŋ] n |
– азартная игра; игра на деньги |
|
24. divorce [dɪ’vɔːs] n |
– развод, расторжение брака |
|
25. kidnapping [‘kɪdnæpɪŋ] n |
– киднеппинг, похищение людей |
|
26. drug offense |
– преступление, связанное с наркотиками |
|
27. commit [kə’mɪt] v |
– совершать (правонарушение, плохой поступок) |
|
28. nationwide [ˌneɪʃ(ə)n’waɪd] adj |
– общенациональный |
|
29. convicted n |
– осуждённый |
|
30. federal penitentiary |
– федеральная тюрьма |
The first European settlers who came to America wanted a political system that offered stability but limited the power of individuals, so they set up a democratic system.
The American democratic government was established in March 1789 in the Constitution of the United States. In this system, rights and powers are divided between the individual states and the central – or federal – government. The federal government has three branches: the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. The power of each branch is carefully balanced by the powers of each of the others.
The Constitution has been changed twenty-six times since 1789. Ten amendments in the Bill of Rights (1791) guaranteed the basic rights of individual Americans. The other sixteen amendments include ones banning slavery (1865) and giving women the right to vote (1920).
Each of the fifty states also has its own government, with a governor, a legislative assembly, and a judiciary. US citizens must be eighteen years old to vote. Each state also has its own constitution, but all states must respect federal laws.
The president
• Is elected for four years with the vice president.
• Chooses the fourteen cabinet members who head departments, such as Justice, Defense, or Education.
• Chooses who will run as vice president.
• Appoints federal judges.
• Chooses heads of agencies such as the FBI and CIA.
• Proposes laws, and approves federal laws after Congress has approved them.
• Is advised by the cabinet about foreign and domestic affairs.
• Chooses US ambassadors to foreign countries.
• Is responsible for relations with foreign countries.
• Is commander in chief of armed forces.
The Vice President
• Leads the Senate and combined meetings of both houses of Congress.
• Becomes president if the president must leave office.
• Serves on special government committees.
The Cabinet
Together with the president, the cabinet members form the government. They advise the president on issues related to their departments.
The Legislature
Congress consists of: the House of Representatives with 435 representatives elected for two years and the Senate with 100 senators elected for six years.
Congress:
• Proposes and approves federal laws.
• Can declare war.
• Approves the choice of federal judges and the cabinet.
The Judiciary
The judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, makes sure that laws are constitutional.
The Supreme Court
Nine Supreme Court judges are appointed for life.
The Federal Courts
There are twelve courts of appeal and ninety-one district courts.
Law and order
Individual states make all the laws concerning sales taxes, education, speed limits, environmental protection, unemployment benefits, gambling, drinking and selling alcohol, and divorce. That is why regulations can vary so much from one state to another. Every state and every city also has its own police force.
Federal laws apply to all citizens, wherever they live. The armed forces and national taxes are controlled by the federal government. When a federal crime, such as kidnapping, drug offenses, or threatening the president, is committed, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) investigates. The FBI is the only nationwide police force. People convicted of federal crimes are sent to a federal penitentiary rather than to a state prison.
In the USA. Chancerel, Изд-во Титул, С. 10.
Text 1. The history of the U.S. Senate
The framers of the Constitution created a bicameral Congress primarily as a compromise between those who felt that each state, since it was sovereign, should be equally represented, and those who felt the legislature must directly represent the people, as the House of Commons did in the United Kingdom. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise. There was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a “People’s House” directly elected by the people, and with short terms obliging the representatives to remain close to their constituents. The other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not intended to represent the people of the United States equally. The Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation.
The Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate. The name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders (from senex meaning old man in Latin). The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that state’s consent. The District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two shadow senators, but they are officials of the D.C. city government and not members of the U.S. Senate. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959.
The disparity between the most and least populous states has grown since the Connecticut Compromise, which granted each state two members of the Senate and at least one member of the House of Representatives, for a total minimum of three presidential Electors, regardless of population. In 1787, Virginia had roughly 10 times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming, based on the 1790 and 2000 censuses. This means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, reducing the disparity of representation.
Before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were elected by the individual state legislatures. However, problems with repeated vacant seats due to the inability of a legislature to elect senators, intrastate political struggles, and even bribery and intimidation gradually led to a growing movement to amend the Constitution to allow for the direct election of senators.
Text 2. The history of the House of Representatives
The history of the U.S. House of Representatives is, in many ways, the history of America. It is a story of accomplishment, struggle, and compromise on the path to a more perfect union. In 1789, the House assembled for the first time in New York. It moved to Philadelphia in 1790 and then to Washington, DC, in 1800. In 1807, the House moved into the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, four years before the Capitol’s House wing was fully completed. In 1814, the House and the nation were severely tested when invading British forces burned the Capitol. It would be another five years before the House’s chambers were fully restored. In 1857, the House met for the first time in its present-day chambers.
In the decades since it first convened, the House has passed into law many pieces of legislation with profound effects on the American way of life. Examples range from funding approval for the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803 and the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery in 1865, to the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing women’s right to vote in 1919 and the Clean Water Act in 1972.
Just as the laws it has passed reflect the country’s evolution, so too does the makeup of the House itself. The House’s first African-American member was elected in 1870. The first Hispanic member took office in 1877, the first woman member in 1917, the first Asian-American member in 1957, and the first African-American woman member in 1969. In 2007, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California was elected as the first woman Speaker of the House.
In recent decades, technology has altered the way the House does business. Electronic voting began in 1973, and live television broadcasts of floor proceedings began in 1979. In 2010, House members were first allowed to bring wireless electronic devices on the House floor, and the Clerk launched House Live, streaming video of live and archived House floor proceedings.
For more House history, including congressional profiles, biographical information, oral histories, art and artifacts, and research resources, visit History, Art & Archives.