Read the following text. Following the title of the text brainstorm words you expect to find in it. Write the vocabulary list of possible words that you could find in that text.

Make sure you understand the meaning of the following words and word-combinations:

to adopt the Constitution

executive

legislative

judiciary

three braches of the federal government

the Bill of Rights

to have residency in the concerned state

every even-numbered year

major political parties

to assign secretaries

to lead departments

to grant black people the right to vote

to give franchise to women

  The Political System in the USA.

The USA is a federation consisting of 50 states. In the American democratic system, rights and powers are divided between the individual states and federal government. The U.S. system of government is based on the Constitution adopted in 1789.
The federal government has three branches: the executive ( the President and Executive office), the legislative (both houses of Congress), the judiciary (the Supreme Court and all other federal courts).                                                      

The three branches are designed to check and balance the others. (it is called a system of „cheks and balances“).

The U.S. were formed from 13 colonies. This is also represented on the American flag by 7 red and 6 white stripes.

The nation´s governing documents are the Constitution of the U.S. and its first 10 Amendments- also called the Bill of Rights- that were ratified in 1787. These documents encompass fundamental democratic freedoms such as the freedom of speech, press, assembly as well as the right to your own religion.

Altogether there have been 26 Amendments to the Constitution. For example the 13^th Amendment prohibits slavery and grants black people the right to vote, the 19^th Amendment gives franchise to women.

  The U.S. has a federal form of government, where powers are divided between the federal government and the states. The legislative powers of the federal government belong to the Congress, which consits of the House of Representatives with its 435 members and the Senate with two representatives from each state.

   A member of the House of Representatives must be at least 25 years old, must be a resident of the represented state and must have been a citizen of this state for at least 7 years. Members get elected for a term of two years every even-numbered year.

 The Senate consists of two senators from each state who are elected for a period of six years. Senators have to be at least 30 years old, must have residency in the concerned state and must have been citizens of the USA for at least nine years.

The Congress issues laws dealing with taxes, international and domestic business, bankruptcy, weights and measures, post offices and roads, armed forces etc.

All bills passed by both houses are forwarded to the president, who has the right to veto them. If the president chooses to veto a bill however, it may still be passed by a two-thirds vote in both houses.

The building in Washington,D.C.,in which Congress meets, is called the Capitol.

The president has to be a „natural born citizen“ who is at least 35 years old and has been a US resident for at least 14 years. He is elected for a period of four years and  under the 22nd Amendment this period can be renewed once. (i.e. he or she cannot be elected mote than twice). The only President who served three terms and was elected to the fourth was F.D.Roosevelt (elected in 1932,1936,1940 and 1944).                                                                   

The President´s official residence is the White House in Washington.
He is the Commander- in- Chief of the armed forces. Unlike our President the U.S. President has wide powers. Each year in January, the President presents a report to Congress in which he reviews events and the work of the government for the past year. It is known as the State of the Union Address.

The President is also assisted in his work by the White House Staff.

The Vice-President presides over the Senate. He automatically succeeds to the presidency if the President dies, resignes, or is unable to carry out his functions during his elected term.

Since the foundation of the USA several presidents have died while in office, four have been assassinated (Lincoln 1865, Garfield 1883, McKinley 1899 and Kennedy 1963) and one had resigned (Nixon in 1974- Watergate affair).

The president assigns secretaries to lead departments including agriculture, commerce, defense, education, energy, health and human services, housing and human development, interior, justice, labor, transportation, treasury and veterans´affairs. Perhaps the most important are the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense.

Each state has its own government and makes its own laws concerning sales taxes, education, speed limits, gambling, drinking and divorce.They have the same three departments of government: executive, legislative and judiciary. The executive department is headed by the Governor.

There are two major political parties in the USA, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The symbol of the Democrats is the donkey, of the Republicans is the elephant.

Questions to discuss:

1. Who is the official head of the State in the USA?
2. What is the mechanism of the presidential elections?
3. What are the duties of the President?
4. What is the official residence of the USA’s President?
5. What body adopted the Constitution of the USA?
6. What is the supreme legislative body and the highest authority in the USA?
7. What is a federal system?
8. What for was a so-called system of the checks and balances established?
9. Is it reasonable that the President can not be a member of the Congress?
10. What are the houses of the USA’s Congress?
11. What are the main tasks of the Congress?
12. What are the qualifications for candidates to the Senate and the House of Representatives?
13. Whom do members of the Congress represent?
14. Who proposes the most important bills?