ТЕКСТЫ ДЛЯ АУДИРОВАНИЯ

Congress

Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government, is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 100 Senators, two from each state. One third of the Senators are elected ever.' two years for six-year terms of office. The Senators represent all of the people in a state and their interests.

The House has 435 members. They are elected every two years for two-year terms. They represent the population of " congressional districts" into which each state is divided. The number of Representatives from each state is based upon its population. For instance California, the state with the largest population, has 45 Representatives, while Delaware has one. There is no limit to the number of terms a Senator or a Representative may serve.

Almost all elections in the United States follow the " winner-take-all" principle: the candidate who wins the largest number of votes in a Congressional district is the winner.

Congress makes all laws, and each house of Congress has the power to introduce legislation. Each can also vote against legislation passed by the other.Becauselegislationonlybecomeslaw ifbothhousesagree, compromisebetweenthem is necessary.Congressdecidesupontaxesandhowmoneyis spent. In addition, it regulates commerceamongthestatesandwith foreign countries. It also sets rules for the naturalizationofforeign citizens.

The Houses of Parliament

The Houses of Parliament in London, known also as the Palace of Westminster, is the place where members of Parliament (MPs) gathertogether to make laws. The Palace of Westminster stands on the riverside near Westminster Abbey*. Tourists always go to see them.

Those who visit the Houses of Parliament may sit in the Strangers' Gallery looking down into the House of Commons and listen to the debates.

The members of each House meet in sessions which begin at the end of October and last for about one hundred and sixty days. The sittings usually begin at 10 o'clock in the morning and end in the late afternoon; but if Parliament is discussing an important question, sittings may go on till late at night. All the time Parliament is in session a flag can be seen over the building, and when the House of Commons is still sitting after dark, there is a light over the face of Big Ben.

The members of the House of Commons sit on two sides of the hall. The Speaker is the chairman at all the debates in the House of Commons, and it is his duty to keep order. The Speaker is elected by all the members of the House of Commons. He belongs to one of the political parties in Parliament, but he never votes with other members.

The House of Lords today consists of some 1200 members: the Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. Of these, 39 Lords of Appeal (law Lords) become life peers on their judicial appointments. These serve the House of Lords as Britain’s Supreme Court of Appeal. Under the chairmanship of the Lord Chancellor they hear about 70 appeal cases a year.

RF State System

 

The Russian Federative Republic is set up by the Constitution of 1993. Under the Constitution Russia is a Presidential Republic. The federal government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Each of them is checked and balanced by President.

The legislative power is vested in the Federal Assembly. It consists of two chambers. The Upper Chamber is the Council of Federation. The Lower Chamber is headed by a speaker.

The President serves as the commander-in-chef of the armed forces, he makes treaties, enforces federal laws, may veto a bill approved by the Federal Assembly.

The members of the Federal Assembly are elected by popular vote for a four-year period.

The executive power belongs to the Government which is headed by the Prime Minister.

The Judicial branch is represented by the Constitutional Court.

Today the state symbol of Russia is a three coloured banner. It has three horisontal stripes: white, blue and red. The white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. It was the first state symbol that replaced the former symbols in 1991. The hymn of Russia is “The Patriotic Song” by Glinka. A new national emblem is a two headed eagle. It is the most ancient symbol of Russia. It originates from the heraldic emblem of the Ryricovitches.