4. Answer the questions:
1. What kind of system was characteristic of the United States at the time of George Washington?
2. What were the first reasons of people’s division into political parties?
3. Whom did the Federalists represent?
4. Who were the Republicans?
5. What are the party emblems and who invented them?
6. What distinguishes the two parties?
Read the text without a dictionary. Try to catch the main idea:
The Democratic Party is the oldest party in the United States. In 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first Democratic President. Since that time, the issues of the nation and the ideas of the party have changed. Both the major parties have liberal and conservative members but in general people consider the Democrats today more liberal than the Republicans.
Democrats
often want the government to establish social programs for people in
need, such as the poor, the unemployed, and the elderly. They usually
say they believe in equal rights for women and minorities and they
oppose nuclear weapon and too much military spending. The symbol of
the Democratic Party is the donkey.
The Republican Party, sometimes called the G.O.P. (the Grand Old Party), began in 1854 over the issue of slavery. Republicans oppose slavery. The first Republican candidate to become President was Abraham Lincoln. After the Civil War, Republicans got interested in farm, land, and business issues. In general, Republicans vote more conservatively than Democrats. They want government to support big business but not to control the lives of citizens. They often oppose government spending for social programs but support military spending. The party symbol is the elephant.
Vocabulary:
nuclear weapon- ядерное оружие
military spending- расходы на вооружение
Notes to the text:
G.O.P. (the Grand Old Party) - великая старая партия (неофициальное название Республиканской партии США)
6. Say what party is spoken about in each sentence:
1. It is the oldest political party in the United States.
2. It is sometimes called the G.O.P.
3. Its first President was Abraham Lincoln.
4. Its first President was Andrew Jackson.
5. It is generally more liberal than the other party.
6. Its members usually prefer to spend tax money for military purposes rather than for social programs.
7. Its members do not want the government to control the lives of individuals.
8. The party symbol is the donkey.
7. Speak on:
1. The political parties in your country.
Russia elects a president as head of state and a legislature, one of the two chambers of the Federal Assembly. The president is elected for a six-years term by the people. The Federal Assembly has two chambers. The State Duma has 450 members, elected for five-year terms all of them by proportional representation. The Federation Council is not directly elected; each of the 83 federal subjects of Russia sends 2 delegates to the Federal Council, for a total of 166 members.
Since 1990, there have been six elections for the presidency and seven for parliament.
In the six presidential elections, only once, in 1996, has a second round been needed. There have been three presidents, with Boris Yeltsin elected in 1991 and 1996, Vladimir Putin in 2000, 2004 and 2012 and Dmitry Medvedev in 2008.
In the parliamentary elections, the Communist Party was the largest party in the 1995 and 1999 elections, with 35% and 24% of the votes respectively. The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia has ranged from 5 to 15% of the votes, and Yabloko won 10% of the votes in 1995 and around 5% in the other three elections. United Russia, an alliance of Unity and Fatherland – All Russia, became the biggest party with 38% in 2003.
ELECTIONS
Read and translate the text:
procedure, minority, European, a campaign,
Anyone who is an American citizen, at least 18 years of age, and is registered to vote may vote. Each state has the right to determine registration procedures. A number of civic groups, such as the League of Women Voters, are actively trying to register as many people as possible. Voter registration and voting among minorities has dramatically increased during the last twenty years, especially as a result of the Civil Rights Movement.
There is some concern, however, about the number of citizens who could vote in national elections but do not. In the national elections of 1984, for instance, only 57.4 per cent of all those who could have voted actually did. In 1992 it was 61.3. But then, Americans who want to vote must register, that is to put down their names in register before the actual elections take place. There are 50 different registration laws in the US- one set for each state. In the South, voters often have to register not only locally but also at the county seat. In European countries, on the other hand, “permanent registration” of voters is most common. Of those voters in the United States who did register in the 1988 Presidential elections, 86 per cent cast their ballots, in 1992- 89.8 per cent.
The National Presidential elections consist of two separate campaigns. One is for the nomination of candidates at national party convention; the other is to win the actual election. The first stage is called “primaries”. The party convention votes to select the party’s official candidate for the presidency. Then Presidential campaigns by the candidates start.
In November of the election year (years divisible by four, e.g. 1988, 1992, 1996, etc.), the voters across the nation go to the polls. If the majority of the popular votes in a state go to the Presidential (and vice-presidential) candidate of one party, then that person is supposed to get all of that state “electoral votes”. These electoral votes are equal to the number of Senators and Representatives each state has in the Congress. The candidate with the largest number of these electoral votes wins the election. Each state’s electoral votes are formally reported by the “Electoral College”. In January of the following year, in a joint session of Congress, the new President and Vice-President are officially announced.
первичные выборы, выдвижение кандидатов, определять процедуру регистрации, регистрационные законы,