Reading tasks. AAnswer these questions.
A Answer these questions. 1 Why is it necessary for every state to have a constitution? 2 What type of constitutions do the United States and Great Britain have? 3 What are the characteristic features of existing constitutions? 4 What examples from the text illustrate these features?
B Complete the following sentences according to the information in the text. 1 The USA has a written constitution but the constitution of Great Britain is …. 2 In “normative” constitutions binding principles are …. 3 “Nominal” constitutions do not provide …. 4 If at least some part of the constitution …. 5 In “flexible” constitutions rules can all be modified through ….
Language focus A Translate the following expressions into Russian paying special attention to the present participle. 1 leading documents 2 statutes dealing with the structure of the courts 3 developing countries 4 constitutions existing in European countries 5 providing insight 6 modifying rules
B Open the brackets putting the verbs in the Present Perfect active or passive form.
One of the reasons for having special constitutional laws is to prevent governments from becoming too powerful and from interfering too much in the lives of individuals. Whereas socialist legal systems 1) ________ (tend) to try to define exactly what the state allowed citizens to do, Anglo-American law 2) _______ (concern) with defining what the state could do, arguing that citizens are entitled to do everything other than that which the state forbids. As a check upon overpowerful government most modern constitutions 3) _______ (adopt) the principle of separation of powers, developed in the 18th century by the French political philosopher Montesquieu. Many presidents 4) ______ (have) important policies blocked by Congress. The Supreme Court (judiciary) has the task of interpreting laws which 5) _______ (dispute) in lower courts, and of deciding whether a law passed by Congress or by one of the individual states is in keeping with the Constitution.
Vocabulary tasks A Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents. 1 act of Parliament a обязательные принципы 2 operations of political system b решение большинством голосов 3 amend the constitutional document c действия политической системы 4 deal with the rights of people d обычный законодательный путь 5 majority vote e вносить поправки в текст конституции 6 one-party dictatorship f быстро развивающиеся страны 7 modify the rules g видоизменять правовые нормы 8 binding principles h постановление парламента 9 ordinary legislative way i иметь дело с правами человека 10 rapidly developing countries j однопартийная диктатура
B Complete the text with an appropriate preposition from the box.
There are also laws which enable citizens to take legal action 1) ______ the state – against, for example, a public authority or even against the government itself. These actions are part of constitutional law. As knowledge of the law has increased 2) ______ the general public, so have the number and range of constitutional law cases. A constitution is the political and ideological structure 3) ______ which a system 4) ______ laws operates. Most countries have a formal written constitution describing how laws are to be made and enforced. The French Constitution, for example, sets a seven year term of office 5) _____ the president; the US Constitution sets a four year term. In Switzerland, a referendum (national vote) must be held 6) ______ any issue for which a petition signed 7) ______ 10,000 people has been gathered; in Ireland, referenda are to be used only in the case of changes in the constitution itself. 8) ______ Germany, a change in the constitution requires a special majority vote in parliament, not the simple majority necessary for other laws. Many other countries put the constitution 9) _______ other laws by making it difficult to change. Over to you For discussion:
Can a person or society as a whole live without any constitution? Are there any examples of this?
Unit 6 British Constitution
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