The United States is a federal union of 50 states, with the District of Columbia as the seat of the national government. The US Constitution outlines the structure of the national government, specifies its powers and activities, and enumerates and guarantees the rights of citizens.
A system of government in the USA is, in Lincolns words, of the people, by the people and for the people.
The Constitution was drafted by a convention of delegates in 1787 after the War of Independence and was officially adopted by the thirteen states in 1789 after much argument, debate and compromise. Over the years 26 amendments have been added, but the basic document has not been changed: it consists of the preamble and 7 articles.
The Constitution, the oldest still in force in the world, established the United States as a federal Union of states, a representative democracy within a republic and set the basic form of government. It divided the powers of the government into three separate branches, each one having powers (checks and balances) over the others. The branches of the government are: the executive, headed by the President; the legislative, which includes both houses of Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives); and the judicial, which is headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution limits the role of each branch to prevent any one branch from gaining undue power.
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, called the Bill of Rights, assure individual rights and freedoms. Added in 1791 they include provisions for freedom of speech, of the press and of worship; the right of citizens to meet peacefully; the right to secure in ones own home against unreasonable searches and seizure of person or property; and the right of any person charged with breaking the law to have a speedy trial by a jury of fellow citizens.
The whole system of American government is based on the principles established in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
According to the Founders of the American state a constitution or higher law should have the following characteristics:
● It sets forth the basic rights of citizens to life, liberty and property.
● It establishes the responsibility of the government to protect those rights.
● It establishes limitations on how those in government may use their powers
with regard to
- citizens rights and responsibilities,
- the distribution of resources,
- the control of conflict.
● It establishes the principle of a private domain which means that there are areas of citizens lives that are no business of the government and in which the government cannot interfere.
● It can be changed with the consent of the most citizens. This is how the Constitution differs from the ordinary law that governments regularly create and enforce.
Each state has its own constitution. The state constitutions have a similar structure with the Constitution of the United States. As a rule they include the preamble, the Bill of Rights, as well as provisions dealing with local interests: the division of powers, suffrage and elections, taxes and finance, education, etc.
|
|
|
Vocabulary
adopt v ()
amendment n ( )
argument n ,
article n , , ,
assure v ,
Bill of Rights 1 ; 2 ( )
branch n , ; .
break a law
charge (with) (), ;
checks and balances , (, )
consent n
convention n ,
District of Columbia ( ),
domain n ; ; private domain
draft v //
enforce v (), ; enforce laws ,
enumerate v ,
fellow citizen
force n ; in force , ( )
Founders (the Founding Fathers) ,
, , (, , , , , .)
gain v , , ,
government n , , ,
head v
higher adj ; higher law
house n (); House of Representatives ( )
interfere v , ( - )
judicial adj
jury n (), ;
limitation n
Lincoln , 16 (1861-1865.)
meet v ,
outline v , , , ,
power n ,
preamble n ,
prevent v .
protect v ,
provision n , ,
representative adj
responsibility n
restrain v ,
right n
searches and seizures ( )
seat n
secure v ,
Senate n ( )
set v , , ; set forth ,
specify v
speedy adj ,
state n ; ; American state
suffrage n
Supreme Court ( )
trial n ,
undue adj
union n ( ); the Union (.)
unreasonable adj , , ,
|
|
|
War of Independence (Revolutionary War) (. .) (1775 - 1783 .)
with regard to , ,
worship n
Reading tasks
A Answer these questions.
1 Where is the seat of the national government in the USA?
2 What does the US Constitution outline?
3 How did Lincoln characterize a system of government in the USA?
4 When and by whom was the US Constitution adopted?
5 Has it remained unchanged over the years?
6 Why did the Constitution divide power into three branches?
7 What is the role of the Bill of Rights?
8 How does the Constitution differ from the ordinary law?
9 What do you think about the peculiarities of the US Constitution?
B Mark these statements T (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text.
1 The Constitution establishes the responsibility of the government to protect the basic rights of people to life, liberty and property.
2 The drafters of the Constitution saw that the future might bring a need for changes, that is why they provided a method of adding amendments.
3 The Bill of Rights abolished slavery and guaranteed universal suffrage.
4 Adopted in 1787, the Constitution was finally ratified in a year.
5 The system of checks and balances gives each branch the means to restrain the other two.
6 Under the Constitution power was further divided among ten branches of the national government.
Language focus
A Use an appropriate word or phrase from the box to complete each sentence.
|
1 A good example of a __________ is the Constitution of the Unites States.
2 It is a relatively __________ of some 12 pages.
3 The constitutional __________ which was to adopt a new constitution, officially opened on May 25, 1787, in Philadelphia.
4 The 55 delegates who drafted the Constitution included most of the outstanding leaders or __________.
5 George Washington, the Military hero of the __________, was the presiding officer.
6 Under the Constitution power was further divided among the three __________ of the national government.
7 These three powers established a so-called system of __________.
8 When the Constitution was written in 1787, there were only __________.
9 Over the past 200 years __________ have been adopted.
B Complete these sentences with the past simple active or passive form of the verb.
When the Constitution first 1)______ (propose) and adopted, there was widespread dissatisfaction of the American people, because it 2)______(not to contain) guarantees of certain basic freedoms and individual rights. It also 3)______(recognize) slavery and 4) _______(not to establish) universal suffrage. Only in 1791, under the strong popular pressure, the Congress 5) ______(force) to adopt the first ten amendments to the Constitution dealing with civil liberties. They 6) ______(call) collectively the Bill of Rights.
Since the Bill of Rights 7) ______(adopt), 16 other amendments have been added to the Constitution.
Adopted in 1787, the Constitution 8) ______(ratify) and 9) ______(come) into force on March 4, 1789.
C Fill in the gaps with one of the modal verbs: can, may, must, cannot, may not.
Under the Constitution, no member of one branch of government 1) _____ be a member of the two others. The President of the United States is not and 2) _______ be, a member of Congress (the legislative branch). Any member of Congress who wishes to become President of the United States 3) _____ resign from that body before accepting the Presidency (Gerald Ford resigned from Congress in 1975 on becoming President). At the same time the President 4) _____ or 5) ______ be, a member of the political party with a majority in Congress. No member of the Government (the executive branch) with the exception of the Vice President (who presides over the Senate) 6) ____ also be a member of Congress.
|
|
|
Vocabulary tasks
A Find in the text the English equivalents for the following expressions.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
B Match the terms with their definitions.
| system of checks and balances | a | a system or body of fundamental principles to which a nation or state is constituted and governed by | |
| convention | b | constitutional amendments of 1791 | |
| constitution | c | general conference devoted to a special object | |
| preamble | d | a preliminary copy of a document | |
| amendment | e | a mechanism to control the abuse of power | |
| the Bill of Rights | f | body of persons sworn to render verdict on question submitted to them in court of justice | |
| jury | g | added article in the US Constitution | |
| draft | h | the introductory part of a document |
C Complete the sentence with the best answer (a, b, or c) according to the information in the text.
1 Adopted in 1787, the Constitution was finally ratified and came into force
a in 1788
b in 1789
c in 1790.
2 Many people contributed to writing the Constitution, though one of the three great is regarded as the father of the Constitution:
a George Washington
b James Madison
c Alexander Hamilton.
3 The Constitution provided that federal laws would be made only by
a the Government
b the Supreme Court
c the Congress.
4 The drafters of the Constitution saw that the future might bring a need for changes, thats why they provided
a a method of adding amendments
b the power to veto acts passed by the Congress
c the evolution of governmental institutions.
5 The system of checks and balances was established in order
a to check whether all the bills become law
b to balance the political forces during elections
c to give each branch of government the means to restrain the other two.
Over to you.
For discussion:
1 Compare the Bill of Rights in England and the Bill of Rights in the USA.
2 Speak on the adaptability of the American Constitution to new conditions, its stability and the role it played in the history of the USA and some other countries.
