| Verbs | carry out include provide outline involve hold participate in |
| Nouns | the core values services political or judicial office a change in staff political activity public sector employees administrative work of government |
C Complete these sentences using an appropriate phrase
From Exercise B.
1. Civil servants are politically impartial employees who ….
2. Civil servants are public sector employees who can not …
3. The Civil Service in the United Kingdom does not …… all ……………………...
4. Civil servants at an intermediate level must seek permission to ………………………….…….
5. About half of all civil servants ……… direct to the public.
6. A change of minister of a department does not ………….
7. The current civil service code ……….… expected of civil servants.
D Find in the text the equivalents for the following word combinations.
беспристрастные служащие; внешняя политика; проводить в жизнь курс; главные принципы: на гражданском положении; должностное лицо: основные принципы (законы); баллотироваться на выборах; предоставлять услуги; выплата пособий; политические взгляды; излагать (перечислять);
честность и объективность; конкурсный отбор; заслуги; участвовать в чем-либо.
E Learn the active vocabulary.
core values to express viewpoints; civil capacity to provide services; a holder of an office to stand for election; benefits to bar from; a civil service code to participate in
UNIT 3
CONSTITUTION
READING PRACTICE
Constitutions
Constitutions describe the fundamental rules according to which states are governed. They set out how decisions are made, how power is distributed among the institutions of government, the limits of governmental authority and the methods of election and appointment of those who exercise power. Constitutions also define the relationships between the state and the individual and usually include the listing of the rights of the citizens.
There are wide variations between different types of constitution and even between different constitutions of the same type. In essence, the British constitution can be described as unwritten, parliamentary, monarchial and flexible, whereas the American one can be seen as written, federal, presidential, republican and rigid.
Every country has a constitution of some kind, but the term is used in two different but related ways. There are many definitions of a constitution, such as that provided by the Oxford English dictionary: ‘the system or body of fundamental principles according to which a nation state politic is constituted and governed’. In other words, the constitution is concerned with the way in which decisions are made, and how powers are distributed among the various organs of government, be they central or local. It usually
determines the boundaries of governmental authority, and the methods of election/appointment of those who are in power.
In a more precise and narrower sense, the ‘constitution’ refers to a single document which sets out the rules governing the composition, powers and methods of operation of the main institutions of government. Almost every country currently possesses a constitution. The oldest one is the American
Constitution, the writing of which introduced ‘the age of constitutions’. Britain does not have such a written statement. It is almost alone among modern states in that it does not have ‘a constitution’ at all. Of course, there are rules, regulations, principles and procedures for the running of the country. But there
is no single written document which can be appealed to as the highest law of the land. Nobody can refer to ‘article 6’ or ‘the first amendment’ or anything like that, because nothing like that exists.
Written constitutions are important in states which have been subjected to internal dissention and upheaval over a long period.
The American Constitution followed in the aftermath of the War of Independence, just as the Japanese and West German documents were devised after World War II.
Most constitutions are written down and embodied in a formal document. The American one is much briefer than many, having some 7000 words, expressed in seven long articles, and a mere ten pages. Few democratic countries today have unwritten constitutions. Apart from the United Kingdom, only Israel and
New Zealand lack formal documents.
READING PRACTICE
A Answer the questions to the text:
a) How many definitions of a constitution are given in the text?
b) Which constitution is the oldest one?
c) What countries have no written constitution?