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Disscussion Point 1

Do you think the Upper House should partially or wholly elected? Why?

Is it possible for the bill you support to become a law&

Lesson 4.

POWER-POINT PRESENTATIONS:

LEGISLATIVE POWER SYSTEMS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.

Lesson 5.

Executive Branch of Power of the usa

Before you read. Think over the following questions:

- Do you know how the Cabinet work? How do the members of the

Cabinet cope with the workload of their everyday duties?

-What do you know about Her Majesty’s Privy Council and Privy

Counselors?

Read the following text.

The chief executive of the United States is the president, who, together with the vice-president, is elected to a four-year term. Under a Constitutional Amendment passed in 1951, a president can be elected to only two terms. Except for the right of succession to the presidency, the vice-president’s only Constitutional duties are to serve as the presiding officer of the Senate; the vice-president may vote in the Senate only in the event of a tie.

The powers of the presidency are formidable, but not without limitations. The president, as the chief formulator of public policy, often proposes legislation to Congress. The president can also veto any bill passed by Congress. The veto can be overridden by two thirds vote in both the Senate and House of Representatives. As the head of his political party, with ready access to the news media, the president can easily influence public opinion regarding issues and legislation that he deems vital.

The president has the authority to appoint federal judges as vacancies occur, including members of the Supreme Court. All such court appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate.

Within the executive branch, the president has broad powers to issue regulations and directives regarding the work of the federal government’s many departments and agencies. He also is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Under the Constitution, the president is primarily responsible for foreign relations with other nations. The president appoints ambassadors and other officials, subject to Senate approval, and, with the Secretary of State, formulates and manages the nation’s foreign policy.

Checks and balances

When Americans talk about their three-part national government, they often refer to what they call its system of “checks and balances”. This system works in many ways to keep serious mistakes from being made by one branch or another. Here are a few examples of checks and balances:

If Congress proposes a law that the president thinks is unwise, the president can veto it. That means the proposal does not become law. Congress can enact the law despite the president’s views only if two thirds of the members of both houses vote in favour of it.

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.

The president has the power to make treaties with other nations and to make all appointments to federal positions, including the position of Supreme Court justice. Yet the Senate must approve all treaties and confirm all appointments before they become official. In this way the Congress can prevent the president from making unwise appointments.