The Linguistic Culture-9-10 (Political Parties and Elections_ Media_ Soap Operas)(Education and Science in the USA) (1157935)
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Possible topics for the USA projects (compositions):Are two- stage presidential elections democratic or anti-democratic?The USA, Britain and the Russian Federation education systems in comparison.Their respective advantages and disadvantages.Why American English can be called “A linguistic melting pot”.Global English.
What are the reasons of the influence of American English on itsmother tongue and many other languages of the world?English and the Internet.Personalities in American science.Famous Russian Americans.Silicon Valley – what it is now.Joint space research projects of the USA and the RF.Favorite American writers.Favorite American movies, directors and actors.Music in the USA.New World, New Architecture.New Pop Culture.Lecture N 9. The Governmental and Political System of the USA. Media.Mount Rushmore. Gutson Borglum memorial of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt.Key words and phrases: to be in force, to amend, fellow citizens, to override a veto, nominate, togo to the polls, a nominee, Electoral College, swing states.The governmental systems of the United States is based on the US Constitution (1785), whichserves as the basic form of government: three separate branches, each one having powers(“check and balances”) over the others.
It specifies the powers and duties of each federal branchof government, with all other powers and duties, belonging to the states.To meet the changing needs of the nation, the constitution has been repeatedly amended. Tenamendments in the Bill of rights (1791) guaranteed the basic rights of individual Americans. Theother sixteen amendments included the one (besides banning slavery (1865) to give women theright to vote (1920)The Bill of RightsThe first 10 amendments to the Constitution and their purposeProtections afforded fundamental rights and freedoms:Freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly; the right to petition the government.Although the constitution has been amended 26 times it is still the “supreme law of the land” andprovides three main branches of government: the executive branch (the president, the vicepresident, the cabinet), the legislative branch (the Congress) and the judicial branch (theSupreme Court).Political Parties and Elections.The US has developed a two-party system: the Democratic and Republican parties.
Othersmall parties such as the Liberation Party and the Labor Party do not play any important role innational politics. The Democratic Party is older than the Republican Party. It was founded in1828 representing Southern planters. The Republican Party founded in 1854, united industrialand trade bourgeoisie from Northeast. Sometimes, the Democrats are thought of as associatedwith labor and the Republicans with business and industry. Republicans also tend to oppose thegreater involvement of the federal government in some areas of public life, which they considerto be the responsibility of the states and communities. Democrats, on the other hand, tend tofavor a more active role of the central government in social matters.Yet it is still more difficult for ordinary Americans to distinguish between the parties.
After theCivil War the differences between the two parties became minimal.Furthermore, the traditional European terms of “right” and “left”, or “conservative” and “liberal”do not quite fit the American system. While some voters vote a “straight ticket’ in other words,for all of the Republican or Democratic candidates in an election, many other vote for oneparty’s candidate for one office, and another’s for another one whom they like.American citizens, over 18 years of age, have a right to take part in elections. The Americanswho want to vote must register in advance. There are 50 different registration laws in the U.SLegislators (Senators and Congressmen) are elected from geographical districts directly bythe voters according to the principle: the candidate who wins the largest number of votes in aCongressional district is the winner.The national presidential election consists of two separate campaigns: one is for thenomination of candidates at national party conventions.
The other is to win the actual election.The nominating race is a competition between members of the same party. They run in asuccession of state primaries and caucuses (which take place between March and June). Theytry to gain a majority of delegate votes for their national party conventions (in July of August).At the party convention having now almost theatrical character (bands, balloons, lot of noise,etc.) the party’s official candidate for the presidency is selected. The presidential campaign thatfollows continues until election in early November when the candidates make final televisionappearances and appeal for the votes. In November of the election year (years divisible by four,e.g. 1988, 1992, 1996, etc.), the voters across the nation go to the polls.
The President and VicePresident are not elected directly by the voters. Instead, they are elected by "electors" united intoso-called Electoral College which is elected by popular vote The US Electoral College is theinstitution that officially elects the President and Vice President of the United States every fouryears.
The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of members of Congress . Intotal, there are 538 electors, corresponding to the 435 members of the House of Representatives,100 senators, and the 3 additional electors from the District of Columbia.Critics argue that the Electoral College is inherently undemocratic and gives swing statesdisproportionate influence in electing the President and Vice President. In recent years there hasbeen discussion about eliminating the Electoral College procedure as undemocratic. Opponentsof the Electoral College favor the direct election of the president. On four occasions, mostrecently in 2000, the Electoral College system has resulted in the election of a candidate (Bush)who did not receive the most popular votes in the election.
A number of constitutionalamendments have been proposed but not passed seeking to alter the Electoral College or replaceit with a direct popular vote.In January of the following year, in a joint session of Congress, the new President and Vice –President are officially announced. The ceremony of inauguration always takes place at noon onJanuary 20.The President and the vice – president of the United States are elected to a four–year term ofoffice, with no more than two full terms allowed.The President chooses the fourteen cabinet members who head departments, such as Justice,Defense, or Education; chooses a vice president; appoints federal judges; chooses heads ofagencies such as the FBI and CIA; proposes laws, and approves federal laws; appoints USambassadors to foreign countries; bears the responsibilities of relations with foreign countriesand commander- in chief of armed forces.Since the time the very first American President so – called “father of the nation” GeorgeWashington was elected there have been 42 presidents in the USA.
Nine presidents were electedfor two terms. Four American presidents were assassinated: Abraham Lincoln (1865), JamesGarfield (1881), William McKinley (1901) and John Kennedy (1963).The Vice President leads the Senate and combined meetings of both houses of Congress, serveson special government committees and becomes president if the president must leave office.The Cabinet together with the president and vice-president forms the government.The USA Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government, is made up of theSenate and the House of Representatives.There are 100 Senators, two from each state.
One third of the Senators are elected every twoyears for six – year terms of office. The Senators represent the interests of the people in a state.The House of Representatives has 435 representatives. They are elected every two years fortwo – year terms. They represent the population of “congressional districts” into which eachstate is divided. The number of Representatives from each state is based upon its population.
Forinstance, California, the state with the largest population, has 45 Representatives, whileDelaware has only one. There is no limit to the number of terms a Senator or a Representativemay serve (« lame duck”).Congress proposes and approves federal laws; can declare war; decides upon taxes andbudget; approves the choice of federal judges; regulates commerce among the states and withforeign countries; sets rules for the naturalization of foreign citizens.A new Congress session begins on the 3 rd of January each odd – numbered year andPPcontinues for two years.
The most of congressmen’s work is done in committee meetings. Thereare 16 permanent committees in the Senate and 22 in the House of Representatives. Here thebills (offered by either house) are studied, experts are consulted, and recommendations are made.Because the Congressmen in a committee are experts in that field, they accept and improve somebills, that were not rejected.
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 thehearings, the committee reports its recommendations to the House. These recommendations mayinclude suggested changes in the bill, or the committee may propose an entirely new ones.Generally Congress goes along with the decisions of its committees. For a bill to become a law itmust be passed by both the House and the Senate and signed by President. If President vetoes thebill it is sent back to Congress. To overcome President’s veto the bill must get a two-thirdsmajority in each chamber.In the previous centuries people who wanted to hand in petition or to discuss some project wentto Washington, to the Capitol and there met the Congressmen from their states.
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