2. Answer the following questions.

1. What does a democratic government rest upon?

2. What does a constitution mean?

3. What does it establish?

4. At a minimum, the constitution provides guarantees for fundamental human rights as well, doesn't it?

5. Must constitutions be capable of change?

6. What is the world's oldest written constitution?

7. What does it include?

8. What other documents keep the U.S. Constitution alive and relevant?

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Part I

Political science

9 ) How many schools of thought are there concerning the process of amending a nation's Constitution?

10. What are the characteristic features of the first school?

11. What is the essence of the method of amendment of the second school?

12. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the methods of each school?

3. Complete the following sentences.

1. The constitution of the country is the supreme law of the land and all citizens are ....

2. Despite their enduring, monumental qualities con­ stitutions ... .

3. The U.S. Constitutions consist of ... .

4. The pattern of constitutional evolution ... .

5. The U.S. Constitution is a brief statement of ... .

6. A much simpler method is ... .

7. Constitutions able to be changed in this fashion ... .

8. No constitution in force today ... .

4. Fill in the blanks with the words from the text.

1. All citizens, prime ministers to peasants alike, are subject to its ... .

2. This written document consists of seven brief arti­ cles and 26 ... .

3. This written document is only the foundation for a vast structure of ... decisions.

4. This pattern of constitutional revolution ... in every democracy.

5. As a result, the constitution is changed ... .

6. Any amendment may be adopted by ... of the legisla­ ture and passed by the voters.

7. Constitutions able to be changed ... can be quite lengthy.

8. Such constitutions have specific provisions that dif­ fer little from the body of ... .

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Учебное пособие для философов и политологов

5 . Agree or disagree with the following statements.

1. All governments rest upon their constitutions.

1. The constitution of the country is the supreme law of the land.

2. Any constitution is usually codified in a single written document.

3. All constitutions provide guarantees for fundamen­ tal human rights.

4. The U.S. Constitution is the only document the U.S. government rests upon.

2. One method is to adopt a difficult procedure.

5. Another method is to provide that any amendment may be adopted by approval of the legislature and passed by the voters at the next election.

6. No constitution like America's could have survived unchanged into the late 20^th century.

6. Translate the following sentences in writing into Russian paying attention to different functions of the verb «to be».

1. In general there are two schools of thought about the process of amending.

1. As a result, the constitution is changed infrequently.

2. This is the model of the United States.

2. One method is to adopt a difficult procedure, requir­ ing many steps and large majorities.

3. Constitutions must be capable of change and adapta­ tion if they are to be more than admirable fossils.