Специальность 030912 «Право и организация социального обеспечения»

1). The United States is a federal union of 50 states. The District of Columbia is the seat of the national government. The Federal Constitution outlines the structure of the national government, its powers and activities. Other activities are the responsibility of the individual states, which have their own constitutions and laws. Within each state are counties, townships, cities and villages, each of which has its own government.

All government in the United States is "of, by and for the people". Members of Congress, the President, the state leaders, and those who govern counties and cities are elected by popular vote. Heads of federal departments are named by the President, and judges are either elected directly by the people or appointed by the elected officials. Voting is done in secret so that no one need to know for whom a citizen is voting. Public officials may be removed from office for failing to perform their duties properly.

2). America declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776. At that time it was a loose confederation of states. It took five years to win the War of Revolution and then it took eight more years to arrive at the system of government that the US has today.

When the Constitution was written in 1787 there were only 13 states. The drafters of the Constitution saw that the future might bring a need for changes, so they provided for adding amendments. Over the years 25 amendments have been added. The pattern of government planned so long ago for 13 states, today meets the needs of 50 states and over 50 times as many people.

Individual rights and freedoms are assured in the Constitution and are listed in the first 10 amendments to the Constitution - the Bill of Rights - which were added in 1791. They include freedom of speech, of the press and of worship; the right of citizens to meet peacefully; the right to be secure in one's own home against unreasonable searches and seizure of person or property; and the right of any person charged with breaking the law to have a speedy trial by a jury of fellow citizens.

The Constitution divides the powers of the government into three branches - the Executive, headed by the President; the Legislative, which includes both houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives; and the Judicial, which is headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution limits the powers of each branch, and prevents any one branch from gaining undue power.

3). The President of the United States is chosen in a national election for a four-year term of office, and may be re-elected for a second term. He must be a native-born citizen at least 35 years old. His salary is $200,000 a year, and he also gets an extra $50,000 for expenses; but he must pay a federal income tax on the whole amount. He gets an added $40,000, tax-free, for travel and entertaining, and is provided a home - the White House.

As head of the Executive Branch, his duty is to carry out government programs and enforce the laws. He recommends many laws to Congress and requires money for Federal Government operations. If he refuses to sign a bill passed by the Congress, a two-thirds vote of both houses is needed to override his veto and make the bill a law. The President appoints federal judges, ambassadors, and hundreds of government officials.

Under the President are 11 executive departments. The President appoints heads, collectively known as the Cabinet, with the Senate's approval.

4). Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch - Queen Elizabeth II - as head of State. Its formal title is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

"Great Britain" (England, Wales and Scotland) came into existence when the English and Scottish crowns were united at the beginning of the 17th century and their parliaments a century later. The British and Irish Parliaments were united in 1801. In 1922 the southern part of Ireland, predominantly Roman Catholic, became a separate state - now the Irish Republic. Northern Ireland, with its Protestant majority, chose to continue as part of the United Kingdom and had its own parliament between 1921 and 1972.

Political stability owes much to the monarchy, the continuity of which has been broken only once (during the brief republic in the 17th century) in over a thousand of years. Democratic government has developed from the establishment of Parliament over 700 years ago. As a constitutional monarch, the Sovereign now performs the functions of an impartial head of State, acting on the advice of her ministers.

5). Parliament of Great Britain comprises the House of Lords and the House of Commons, together with the Queen in her constitutional role. The Lords is made up of hereditary and life peers and peeresses and the two archbishops and 24 most senior bishops of the established Church of England. The Commons is the elected House, consisting of 650 members of Parliament (MPs), each representing a local constituency area.

The two-chamber system has long been a feature of British parliamentary government, although over the years the balance between the two Houses has undergone a complete change. In modern practice the centre of parliamentary power is in the Commons. Limitations on the Lords' powers of legislative veto are based on the belief that the main function of the House is to complement the Commons and not to rival it. In these days the Lords hardly ever executes its powers to delay Bills.

General elections to choose MPs and the next Government must be held at least every five years. Voting, which is not compulsory, is by secret ballot and is from the age of 18.

Under the traditional two-party system, governments are formed by the party which has majority support in the Commons.

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