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Lecture 3 Politics

Tell whether each of the following statement is true or false. 1-10: FTTFF/FTTTF 11-14: TTFT

Fill in the blanks with the correct information.

1. Lords; Commons 2. the Prime Minister; the Sovereign/Queen 3. Queen; House of Commons 4. a federal system 5. executive; judicial 6. Senate; Representatives; two 7. the Democratic Party; the Republican Party 8. legislature, monarch, Commons 9. Queen 10. supreme law 11. Bill of Rights, amendments 12. executive, checks and balances 13. Supreme Court 14. Republican, Democratic

Choose the correct answer on the basis of what is stated in the text. 1-10: CDAAC/CDACB 11-27: DDACB/CD Explain the following terms. 1. British Parliament

The British Parliament today consists of three parts: the Queen, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Parliament has a number of different functions. First and foremost, it passes laws. Another role of the Parliament is to scrutinize, or examine the government.

2. Life peer

Life peers receive their noble titles from the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. However, a life peer cannot pass the title on to his or her children. These appointments are usually made for people’s outstanding careers or contributions to society. Famous people who have been made peers are former British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.

3. British Constitution

The U.K. does not have a written constitution, which most countries have. While much of the constitution is written down, it is not systematically written into a single document. The British Constitution is made up of three main parts: Statutes, Common Laws and Conventions.

4. The Labour Party

The Labour Party was developed by the growing trade union movement at the end of the 19th century. It quickly replaced the Liberal Party as one of the two largest political parties in the U.K. The Labour Party supported state control of important industries and a more equal distribution of wealth. It has drawn financial support from the trade unions.

5. The U.S. Constitution

The Constitution of the United States was written as a single political document in 1787. There were only 7 articles in it. The Constitution demands the election of the president, and provides that federal laws would only be made by a Congress. It also provides for a national court system headed by a Supreme Court. The Constitution follows these principles: federal system, “checks and balances” of the powers and respect for the Constitution.

6. A federal system

A federal system is one in which power is shared between the central government and the state government. Therefore, each of the Americans is under the two governments--the federal government and the state government. The federal government has the right to declare war, to tax, to borrow or coin money and to regulate business and trade. Generally speaking, the federal government deals with foreign affairs and matters of general concern to all the states.

7. Checks and balances

When Americans talk about the system of “checks and balances”, they often refer to the three-part government. The system limits the powers of the three branches. Each branch has powers that the others do not have, and each branch is given power to check the operations of the others, so that no one branch can become too powerful.

8. The Congress

The Congress is the supreme legislative branch of the U.S. government. Under the Constitution, it is the only branch that can make federal laws, levy federal taxes, and declare war upon other countries. The American Congress is made up of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both Senators and Representatives of the House are chosen by a direct election from all of the states.

9. Bill of Rights

Many of the recommendations of the states ratifying conventions were considered later by James Madison as he drafted what became the Bill of The Rights. It is commonly viewed as consisting of the first 10 articles of Amendments to the Constitution. These amendments give all Americans rights to believe in any religion; to speak, write and publish as they like; to gather together peaceably and to petition the government; to be secure in their homes without fear of unreasonable searches and seizure of persons and property; and to receive fair and just treatment in courts of law. The Bill of Rights was added in 1791.

10. jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the authority to hear and decide cases. According to the Constitution, the federal courts exercise jurisdiction over cases in which the subject involves either the U.S. Constitution, statutes, or treaties; maritime law; or cases in which the litigants include either the U.S. government, more than one state government, one state government and a citizen of another state, citizens of more than one state, or a foreign government or citizen. The state courts exercise jurisdiction over the remaining cases. These include most criminal cases.

11. Electoral College

It is a body that elects the president and vice president. Each state is represented by the same number of members as in its congressional delegation. In another word, each has as many electors as the total representation in Congress (House plus Senate). The voters vote for electors who will cast their ballots in the Electoral College. Because of the winner-take-all feature of the Electoral College, the system gives an advantage to large states and their urban populations.

12. Manifest Destiny

The 19th century journalist John O’Sullivan coined the phrase “manifest destiny” in an 1839 article. It conveyed the belief in the divinely conferred right of the republic to expand westward and bring more of the continent into “the great experiment of Liberty and Federated self-government”.

Questions for Discussion

1. The Articles of Confederation was the first governing Constitution of the United States of

America. Although serving a crucial role in the victory in the American Revolutionary War, a group of reformers felt that the Articles lacked the necessary provisions for a sufficiently effective government. Another problem is that the government lacked taxing authority; it had to request funds from the states. Another criticism of the Articles was that they did not strike the right balance between large and small states in the legislative decision making process. 2. Legislature is a type of representative assembly with the power to create and change laws.

The President has the authority to appoint federal judges as vacancies occur. Under the Constitution, the President is responsible for foreign relations with other nations. He also has the right to veto or sign any bills passed by Congress. He can call into service of the National Guard. The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court, which is the only court specifically created by the Constitution. The Supreme Court is the ultimate appellate court in the United States. It usually hears cases on appeal. If Congress proposes a law that the President thinks is unwise, the President can veto it. That means the proposal does not become law. If Congress passes a law which is then challenged in the courts as unconstitutional, the Supreme Court has the power to declare the law unconstitutional and therefore no longer in effect.

3. 1) Popular sovereignty, or control by the people

2) A republican government in which the people choose representatives to make decisions for them

3) Limited government with written laws, in contrast to the powerful monarchical English government against which the colonists had rebelled

4) Separation of powers, with checks and balances among braches to prevent any one branch from gaining too much power

5) A federal system that allowed for states’ rights, because the states feared too much centralized control

4. A law begins as a proposal called “a bill”. It is read, studied in committees, commented on and amended in the Senate or House chamber in which it was introduced. It is then voted upon. If it passes, it is sent to the other house where a similar procedure occurs. Members of both houses work together in “conference committees” if the chambers have passed different versions of the same bill. Groups who try to persuade Congressmen to vote for or against a bill are known as “lobbies.” When both houses of Congress pass a bill on which they agree, it is sent to the president for his signature. Only after it is signed does the bill become a law.

5. Many bills are initiated by the Cabinet, in the House of Commons. The function of the British Parliament is to discuss, criticize, oppose, ask for minor amendments and in the end to approve. Because the majority of the members of the House of Commons belong to the stronger party that forms the government, the majority will inevitably vote for the Cabinet’s proposals. Therefore though Parliament is normally a law-making body, not all the members of the British