National government in the USA

CONTENTS

UNIT 1 NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
Text 1	The American System of Government
Text 2	What is Congress?
Text 3	The National Executive Branch
Text 4	The National Judicial Branch
Text 5	The System of Checks and Balances
UNIT 2 STATE GOVERNMENT IN THE USA
Text 1	State Constitutions
Text 2	The State Legislative Branch
Text 3	The State Executive Branch
UNIT 3 LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE USA
	Introduction
Text 1	What are Local Governments?
Text 2	Counties
Text 3	Municipalities
Text 4	New England towns
Text 5	Townships
Text 6	Special districts
	Supplementary Reading
Text 1	Mayor-Council vs. Council-Manager: two forms of self-government
	Part I
	Part II
Text 2	New York counties
Text 3	State and Local Government. Innovations in Public education
Text 4	State and Local Government. Using E-Government Effects of the Digital Revolution
Text 5	Cluster analysis of municipalities
	Part I
	Part II
Text 6	Governance
Text 7	County Services
Text 8	Revenues
Text 9	In contrast to low trust in Washington, majorities trust state and local governments
	Literature

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ

Настоящее пособие представляет собой сборник текстов по государственному и муниципальному управлению в Соединенных Штатах Америки. Цель данного пособия заключается в формировании навыков работы с литературой, связанной с государственной и муниципальной службой. Данная цель реализуется через чтение и перевод аутентичных материалов, отражающих историю и функционирование государственных, муниципальных и судебных структур США.

Пособие состоит из трех разделов: “National Government in the USA”, “State Government in the USA” и “Local Government in the USA”.

Каждый тематический раздел содержит тексты и задания для обязательного изучения, а также тексты для дополнительной самостоятельной проработки, что позволяет проконтролировать степень усвоения лексического материала по той или иной теме.

UNIT I

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IN THE USA

TEXT 1: THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

The governmental systems in the United States - federal, state, and local - are quite easy to understand, that is, if you grew up with them and studied them at school. One foreign expert complained, for example, that the complexity of just the cities' political and governmental structure is "almost unbelievable." The "real Chicago," he explained ", spreads over 2 states, 6 counties, 10 towns, 30 cities, 49 townships, and 110 villages. Overlaid upon this complex pattern are 235 tax districts and more than 400 school districts..."

There are, however, several basic principles which are found at all levels of American government. One of these is the "one person, one vote" principle which says that legislators are elected from geographical districts directly by the voters. Under this principle, all election districts must have about the same number of residents.

Another fundamental principle of American government is that because of the system of checks and balances, compromise in politics is a matter of necessity, not choice. For example, the House of Representatives controls spending and finance, so the President must have its agreement for his proposals and programmes. He cannot declare war, either, without the approval of Congress. In foreign affairs, he is also strongly limited. Any treaty must first be approved by the Senate. If there is no approval, there's no treaty. The rule is "the President proposes, but Congress disposes." What a President wants to do, therefore, is often a different thing from what a President is able to do.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW. The federal government is the national government of the US. The Constitution of the United States limits the power of the federal government to defence, foreign affairs, printing money controlling trade and relations between the states, and protecting human rights. The federal government is made up of Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court.

Comprehension questions:

1. What are the basic principles which are found at all levels of American government?

2. How do you understand the saying: “The President proposes, but Congress disposes”?

3. What powers does the federal government posess?

4. What does the federal government consist of?

TEXT 2: WHAT IS CONGRESS?

Article I of the Constitution of the United States describes the first of the three branches of national government. This is the legislative, or lawmaking, branch. According to this article, "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States..." Congress, then, is the country's lawmaking branch.

One of the most basic features of Congress is the fact that it is bicameral. This means that Congress is made up of two houses. The first, or upper, house is the Senate. The lower house is the House of Representatives.