To disburse, 2) to undercut, 3) to rein, 4) to vitiate, 5) utility, 6) acute, 7) intact, 8) erroneous, 9) stiff

a) to weaken or destroy the impact or effectiveness of; to undermine;

b) tocheck, to control, to limit, to restrain, to hold back, to constrain;

c) to reduce the value or impair the quality of; to make ineffective; to invalidate;

d) to pay out, spend, lay out, expend, distribute;

e) having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions; keen;

f) containing or characterized by error; mistaken; incorrect; wrong; not correct; not in conformity with fact or truth;

g) rigid, inflexible, inelastic;

h) whole, complete, sound, perfect, entire;

i) the state or quality of being useful; usefulness;

 

b) Translate the following sentences, use the GLOSSARY:

1) Despite the divisive nature of the Civil War, the nation reunited and the Constitution remained intact, although not without amendments.

2) The six subjects of Federalist Papers were: 1) the utility of the Union, 2) the insufficiency of the present confederation, 3) the necessity of a stronger government, 4) the conformity of the proposed Constitution to republican government, 5) the relationship between federal and state government, and 6) the additional securities of the new government.

3) There are three types of patents available in the United States: utility, design, and plant patents.

4) There is a rule that a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work that has an inherent use apart from its appearance, and is also an expressive work apart from its utility, may qualify for copyright protection.

5) The Sherman Act of 1890 exempted trade unions and agricultural groups from antitrust laws, and it reined in the use of court injunctions during strikes.

6) Through the early years of the New Deal, the Court reined in congressional authority under the commerce clause, striking down a wide range of legislation intended to address the dreadful economic conditions left in the wake of the Great Depression.

7) The new statute vitiates any common-law argument that the plaintiffs might have.

8) Legislation designed to regulate and punish the organizational activities of the Communist Party and its adherents was at first upheld and then in a series of cases was practically vitiated.

9) Supreme Court holdings establish clearly the breadth of congressional power, and numerous dicta assert an even broader power, but that Congress may through the exercise of its powers vitiate and overturn constitutional decisions and restrain the exercise of constitutional rights is an assertion often made but not sustained by any decision of the Court.

10) The Constitution’s concise expressive style helped it to survive largely intact, forcing Presidents, Congress, and the courts to find new applications periodically to meet changing circumstances and cope with new problems.

11) However, the existence of First Amendment protections did not deter the Congress from passing the Sedition Act of 1798. The law made it a crime, punishable by fines and imprisonment, to engage in “false, scandalous and malicious” writing about the president or Congress or to write or utter statements that would bring them into “contempt or disrepute.” Although ostensibly aimed at curtailing the actions of French immigrants to the United States, the law was largely politically driven, a means for the Federalists in power at the time to undercut their Republican opposition.

12) The Court determined that the law created a burden on interstate commerce and imposed a stiff economic burden on the railroad.

13) Ratification of the new Constitution encountered stiff resistance from those who became known as the Anti-Federalists.

14) Hunters, those who own weapons for self-protection, and other gun enthusiasts insist the Second Amendment prohibits any restrictions on their right to bear arms. Rather than limit the sale of guns, they argue, the government should enact stiffer penalties for those caught using a gun while committing a crime.

15) Process errors include errors in the admission of evidence acquired in violation of the constitution, such as coerced confessions, illegally seized evidence, erroneous jury instructions, and restrictions on the defendant’s right to cross-examine witnesses.

16) The fact that the accusations were so lightly dismissed without a full trial was “ erroneous. ”

17) The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the district court’s decision, stating that the evidence was inadequate and “ erroneous ” to show an unconstitutional race-based objective.

18) The Court resolved the conflict by holding that Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA) is facially valid, there being insufficient indication that a significant proportion of the AFLA funds would be disbursed to ''pervasively sectarian'' institutions, but by remanding to the district court to determine whether particular grants to pervasively sectarian institutions were invalid.

19) While the United States is not concerned with, and has no power to regulate local political activities as such of State officials, it does have power to fix the terms upon which its money allotments to states shall be disbursed.

20) The president’s legal advisers are acutely aware of the importance of Jackson’s opinion, and may advise him of the likelihood that an action will be accepted.

TASK II. a) Insert the missing prepositions of, down, at, into, into, to, with, of, from, by:

Patronage has its defenders. It is a way to maintain a strong political organization 1) … offering campaign workers rewards. More importantly, patronage puts people 2) … government who agree 3) … the political agenda 4) … the victor. Cooperation, loyalty, and trust flow 5) … this arrangement. Finally, patronage guarantees some turnover, bringing new people and new ideas 6) … the system.

Opponents have long agreed that patronage is acceptable 7) … the highest levels 8) … government. Presidents, governors, and mayors are entitled to select their cabinet and department heads. However, history indicates that patronage systems extending far 9) … the organizational chain are susceptible 10) … inefficiency and corruption.

b) Discuss the political phenomenon of patronage as it exists in your country.

TASK III. a) Read the text about Protestant dissenters; describe the reflection of Dissenting Protestantism in the spirit of the American Constitution:

All Protestantism, even the most cold and passive, is a sort of dissent. But the religion most prevalent in the northern colonies is a refinement on the principle of resistance; it is the dissidence of dissent, and the Protestantism of the Protestant religion. Edmund Burke(1729-1797),On Conciliation with America (1775).

Christianity does not need the support of government. Indeed, the scriptures expressly teach against a dependence on worldly powers. Christianity flourished when government opposed it. Government support weakens the confidence of Christians in their own religion, and it raises suspicions by skeptics about Christians who apparently think so little of their religion that it needs propping up (support) by the government.

Commentary: This is a normative claim about what Christianity teaches. It is being made by one who is apparently a Christian. The Protestant dissenters argued that the church should not depend on government. However, that claim went against the teaching of other churches in that day, such as Catholic, Orthodox, and the Church of England.

Even before peace was fully memorialized in the Treaty of Paris (1783), Protestant dissenters and American statesmen of enlightenment-rationalistic sympathies began their common drive for disestablishment where Anglicanism still had a hold.

On the one hand, James Madison championed the cause of the enlightenment-rationalists. On the other stood Protestant dissenters who believed that the government's involvement in religion was an encroachment on the authority of Christ over His church.

While the enlightenment rationalists in Virginia sought disestablishment for the unity of the body politic, the Protestant dissenters joined to support them out of a common desire to protect the church from undue control by the government. This close connection between political freedom and church freedom was there from the beginning.

To disestablish - to deprive (a church) of official governmental support.

Rationalists believe in what is based on reason and logic. The conflict between the beliefs of Puritans and Rationalists lies in the role God supposedly played in their lives. The Puritans believed that God was actively involved in their lives. The Rationalists held that God created the universe to work independently and didn't interfere. They thought reason was God's special gift to mankind, and right and wrong were theirs to decide.

b) Discuss state-church relationships in your country.

TASK IV. a) Read the text and compare English and American Whig theories;

b) Explain the usage of verbal tense forms: