Before you read. Think over the following questions:
-Have you been watching the primaries of US Presidential
elections of 2008?
-Who were the main contenders? What were their most striking differences?
Read the following text.
1_______________________________
The election of the president consists, in fact, of a network of elections, nominations, and campaigns beginning some nine months before election day.
There are three stages. First, there is a series of party primary elections within the parties required by state law. Potential presidential candidates seek the nomination of one or other of the major parties, who select their candidates at national party conventions. The delegates to these conventions represent state party organizations, and are chosen by a variety of methods, but increasingly they are elected, and are committed to supporting a particular presidential candidate.
2_____________________________________
Thus the party primaries may be of critical importance in determining the final party nomination, and potential candidates can be eliminated or improve their chances of becoming the party candidate at this stage. Laws concerning participation in party primaries (which are also held for elections to Congress) differ from state to state, most being party caucuses (for registered party voters only), but some remain open to any registered voter.
3__________________________________
The national party conventions choose presidential nominees by a complex system of voting by delegates. In this respect the candidates of the major parties chosen to compete for election to the presidency in November must probably already have undergone two elections, the party primaries and the voting at the national convention.
State and local elections need not be held at the same time as national ones, but in many instances they are. State governors are elected for varying terms, not necessarily at the same time as national office-holders, the nature of state elections being determined by state law.
4_________________________________
Given the many offices elected at the national, state, and local level, ballot papers are often long and complicated, and voting machines are used in most stages. A majority of states also use the party-column ballot, listing the candidates of each party in a column, beside or under the party name or emblem. An alternative ballot form lists candidates by office, making straight party-ticket voting very difficult. Although some 40% of US citizens do not vote in presidential elections, the federal system and the tradition of electing even minor officials at the local level means that US elections are more frequent and are held for a larger number of political (and even administrative and judicial) offices than in most other countries.
Exercises
Read the text and entitle its parts. Arrange them in the list below.
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1)
2)
3)
4)
2. Put up questions to these sentences: a)a general question
B) 2-3 special questions
1) The election of the president consists, in fact, of a network of elections, nominations, and campaigns.
2) There are three stages in the presedential elections.
3) Potential presidential candidates seek the nomination of one of the major parties, who select their candidates at national party conventions.
4) The delegates to these conventions increasingly are committed to supporting a particular presidential candidate.
5) The party primaries may be of critical importance in determining the final party nomination.
6) Potential candidates can be eliminated or improve their chances of becoming the party candidate at this stage.
7) The national party conventions choose presidential nominees by a complex system of voting by delegates.
8) State governors are elected for varying terms, not necessarily at the same time as national office-holders
9) Ballot papers are often long and complicated, and voting machines are used in most stages.
10) An alternative ballot form lists candidates by office, making straight party-ticket voting very difficult.
3. Give definitions for the following:
nomination
campaign
primary elections
party caucus
national office-holders
ballot paper
voting machines
the party-column ballot
