Exercise 1
Study the use of the topical vocabulary, translate the sentences into Russian.
govern, government (al), governor
Britain is governed by Her Majesty's Government.
Monarchy is the most common form of government.
Prime minister and his Cabinet constitute the British govern-ment.
The study of governmental structures must proceed hand in hand with the investigation of real political processes.
The Queen is the supreme governor of the Church of England.
power, powers, powerful / powerless
As a result of a long process of evolution the monarchy's absolute power has been progressively reduced.
For years a trend has been to confer powers directly on ministers.
Dictators use force to gain despotic political power.
The Speaker possesses wide powers in the House of Commons.
G 7 is a group of most powerful countries in the world.
The U.S.A and Russia are the greatest nuclear powers.
The supreme power in Britain is exercised by president.
Nuclear power is to be used for peaceful purposes.
To provide energy to consumers power plants have to be built.
The UN was powerless to prevent the invasion.
legislate, legislature, legislation, legislative
Legislation requires agreement of all three elements of power.
Parliament may legislate as it pleases, subject to Britain's obligations as a member of the European Union.
During debates Government's legislative proposals are criticized.
In law the Queen is head of executive and an integral part of legislature.
The overall legislative record of the administration was inadequate.
execute, execution, executive
Ministers execute laws and are responsible to parliament.
England was the first country to have executed her king.
Execution of laws is conferred on governmental executive bodies.
The executive powers of the Crown are exercised by the Cabinet.
The industry lacks highly professional executives.
judge, judgement, judiciary, judicial
One can't judge by appearances.
In Britain judges are normally appointed from practicing lawyers.
The Lord Chancellor heads the judiciary in England and Wales.
All the House of Lords legal judgements are published on the Internet www. parliament. uk/
The Lord Chancellor recommends all judicial appointments to the Crown, except the highest.
The loss of power arose from political misjudgement.
subject, be subjected to, subjection, subjective (ly)
l. The governing elites are often not subjected to effective restraints on the exercise of their power.
State organs subject each other to reciprocal controls.
The committee subjected its decision for the parliament's consideration.
Every subject starts off as a proposal or 'motion' by an MP.
All British subjects over the age of 18 may vote provided they are not subject to any disqualification.
In any legal system a complete subjection of lower courts to higher courts is implied.
The decision taken subjectively is subject to reconsideration.
accord, accordance, according (ly)
A hearty welcome was accorded to the delegation.
It was important to find accord among the members of the team.
According to some sources the results of the election were rigged.
All the UN resolutions are to be in accord with the UN Charter.
There were some remarks to the report, and the final document was changed accordingly.
Members of British Parliament act in accordance with precedent.
It is important not to be in discord with your self.
succeed, (un)success(ful), successive, succession, successor
In Britain traditionally it is the elder son of the monarch who succeeds to the throne.
In succeeding years the queen gained more and more powers.
Nowadays we are ready to forget that Western Europe made two unsuccessful attempts to expand before she eventually succeeded.
Governments can be changed by elections, through dynastic succession, as a result of coup d’etat and so on.
Mrs Thatcher said: «No other nation has so successfully comb: people of different races and nations within a single culture)).
Two successive attempts to overcome the barrier failed.
Middle-class voters who had supported Grey in 1832 lost cc dence in Melbourne, his successor.
accede, accession, accessory, access, accessible
Many thought all the countries of the world would eventually accede to the examples of the United States or Great Britain and astablish similar arrangements.
Accession of a number of Eastern European countries to European Union may weaken the latter.
After her accession to the throne Elizabeth accepted Philip's alliance hand.
One must accede to the judgement made by the commission.
Besides the powers conferred on the president he also acquires some accessory ones, not unimportant, which go with the post.
Terrorists can easily access all means of communication, cyber space becoming accessible as well.
constitute, constitution, constitutional, constituent, constituent
Such behaviour has long been considered the prerogative of properly constituted governments.
Prime minister and his Cabinet constitute the British government.
On February 7, the seven states adopted a provisional constitution for the Confederate States of America.
The majority of delegates agreed on a series of constitutional amendments to limit Republican influence.
The first 10 amendments to the American constitution constitute the Bill of Rights.
The constituent parts of the power mechanism are as follows.
This agency subsidizes two very influential constituencies.
Constitutionally secular, but mostly Hindu, India has the world’s second largest population of Moslems.
Exercise 2
Fill in the spaces with the right word.
govern, (un) governable, government, governor, governmental
The organs of ____ overlap but can be clearly distinguished.
In the definition of a _____ structure the main question is ‘who _____’?
In the federal structure of the U.S. each state is _____ by a _____.
Both in Britain and the U.S.A the winning party becomes a _____ party.
New _____ agencies brought generous credit facilities to industry and agriculture.
In this respect the society was becoming _____.
The only law which could ______ the relations of sovereign states with each other was the law of the jungle.
The Spanish colonies were _____ from Spain by the Council of the Indies. The ______ appointed by the council were landowners who had almost absolute authority.
power, powers, powerful / powerless
In a monarchy a monarch exercises the supreme _____ of government.
Only about a dozen nations have systems where only two parties compete for _____.
The Green parties protest against new nuclear _____ plants.
Legislative _____ in Britain are vested in Parliament.
The House of Lords is _____ to decline a bill, it can only delay it for some time.
North Korea seeks to become one of the _____ possessing nuclear weapons.
Britain used to be the most nation in the 19th century.
The European _____ had completed their overseas expansion, and now were threatened by the rising of Germany.
subject, be subjected, be subject, subjection, subjective
The parliament _____ the new taxation bill to revision.
The new programme is certain _____ to sharp criticism.
The schedule is not final, it _____ to change.
Those critical remarks couldn't be taken into consideration, they were too ____.
The of lower instances to the higher bodies is to be
taken for granted.
6. The main _____ for discussion at the opening session is to be the pension reform.
In the conflict over Poland Moscow demanded a government _____ to Soviet influence.
As the American colonists were English _____ as well, the Bill applied to them too.
9. Parliament may legislate as it pleases, ______ to Britain's obligations as a member of the European Union.
accord, according, accordance, according (ly)
1. The Security Council took decision in ______ with the Charter.
2. _____ to the protocol the head of the country is ______ a due respect.
Your mind and soul should be in _____ with your body.
The head of the delegation was replaced by a junior minister and the protocol of the welcome procedure was changed _____.
_____ to the American view Truman lectured Molotov about
the need to carry out the Yalta ____.
6. There is to be an _____ among all elements of power for legislation.
legislate, legislation, legislature, legislator, legislative
1. For all of the _____ activity in the U.S., some blacks became impatient with the pace of progress.
2. In 1968 the Congress passed _____ banning discrimination in housing.
3. In the 1930s the White House had initiated _____ and worked closely with Congress to ease the trauma of the Great Depression.
4. Truman faced fierce political opposition from conservative _____.
5. The Crown dependencies have local _____ which make laws
on island affairs.
6. Eisenhower's inclination to play a modest role in public often led
to stalemate.
judge, judgement, judiciary, judicial
1. Truman's _____ how to respond to the Soviet Union had an important impact on the early Cold War.
The presidential election of 1900 gave the American people a chance to pass _____ on the administration.
The House of Lords consists also of life peers created to assist the House in its _____ duties.
Payments were withdrawn from anyone who was _____ not to be genuinely seeking work.
The ______ determines common law and interprets statutes.
The jury ______ that the defendant was not guilty.
7. are normally appointed from practicing lawyers and are not subject to ministerial direction.
8. The _____ is to hear all cases arising under federal laws and the Constitution.
execute, execution, executive, executioner
The warrior and the ____ do similar jobs.
The public has always had to lurk in the shadows.
America, like all countries, which use death penalty, has ____ innocents.
Washington pledged _____ the duties of the presidency faithfully.
The bodies are responsible for the ____ of laws.
The transport union ____ yesterday announced a stepping up of the campaign to defend fair fares.
succeed, (un) success (fid), successive, succession, successor
1. More dynasties which continued to rule as well as to reign have paid with the loss of their thrones.
The ____ to Edward the Confessor was the Saxon Harold.
Anyone _____ to a peerage may, within 12 months of _____, disclaim (refuse from) that peerage for his or her life.
4. How have Americans _____ in avoiding ethnic troubles with the diversity of settlers.
5. The monarchy is hereditary, and provisions of the Act of Settlement of 1701 secured the Protestant _____. This _____ cannot now be altered.
6. Parliament acts in such a way as not to bind its _____ in the form of their legislation.
Mass entertainment tends to be similar in all the cultural media: westerns, detective stories, stories, situation comedies.
For three years in the production figures had been steadily on the climb.
accede, accession, access, accessible
One must ____ to Bernard Shaw's words that «you may occupy towns and win battles, you cannot conquer a nation».
The Court is already overloaded with cases, and the number can only increase when new Member States ____.
In future, qualified majority will be obtained if a decision receives a specified number of votes. This restriction will be reviewed in the light of successive _____.
The restrictions proposed could result in foreign companies being denied _____ to the U.S. market.
In Hong Kong citizens have _____ to the Internet in a more powerful than 99 % users in the world while in the depressed areas the Internet seems _____.
constitute, constitutional, constitution, constituent, constituency
1. Terrorism ____ a menace to all of us.
His _____ of mind was of an extraordinary kind.
A _____ order does not always guarantee democracy.
The aim of the rebels was to overthrow the ____ authorities.
A person can be slim or fat, which implies his ______.
Decontrol alone does not ______ an adequate oil policy.
For electoral purposes Britain is divided into 659 _____.
Exercise 3
Before you read the text in exercise 4, discuss the following:
What do you understand by a governmental structure?
What political systems do you know?
Which political system appeals to you most?
What governmental structures are there in Britain / the U.S.A. / Russia?
Who are the heads of these countries and their governments?
Exercise 4
Look through the text below and say which systems of government are mentioned. Do the tasks that follow. |
