1.1 What are the three branches of the US national government?
The L’egislative - in the US Capitol - Congress (the House of Representatives & the Senate)
The Ex’ecutive - in the white house:
The President
The Vice President
Departments: 15 Department heads (Cabinet members) advise the President on issues and help carry out policies.
Independent Agencies (50-60): Help carry out policy or provide special services.
The Judicial - in the Supreme Court - the Supreme Court; branch is made up of the court system, The Supreme Court - of nine Justices (incl. Chief Justice) appointed by the President and approved by the Senate.
1.2 What are the functions of every branch?
The Legislative
Congress:
enact legislation
declare war
the right to confirm or reject many Presidential appointments
Substantial investigative powers
Override Presidential Vetoes
Approve Vice-Presidency appointments
Ratify Foreign-trade treaties
the House
initiate revenue (tax) bills (start laws that make people pay taxes),
impeach federal officials,
elect the President in the case of an Electoral College tie.
The Senate
confirm those of the President's appointments that require consent
ratify treaties.
tries impeachment cases for federal officials referred to it by the House.
The Executive
The executive branch of Government makes sure that the laws of the United States are obeyed.
The President:
preside over the administration of government

Approves/ vetoes  the bills that Congress enacts
serves as Commander In Chief of all United States military forces
The vice president:
is a member of the Cabinet,
serves as president in the event that the president is unable to do so for any reason or if the president steps down.
presides over the Senate and can cast a deciding vote in the event of a tie.
Departments:
advise the President on issues and help carry out policies
Independent Agencies:
Help carry out policy or provide special services.

The Judicial
interpret and expound all congressional enactments
examine federal and state statutes and executive actions to determine whether they conform to the U.S. Constitution
is intended to guide legislatures and executive authority; thereby they mold the development of law

1.3 Could you explain the term “system of Checks and Balances”?
The three branches are not independent of one another because the Constitution set up a system of checks and balances to help ensure that no one branch became too powerful.
Checks and Balances of the Legislative Branch
The Legislative Branch is given the powers to make the laws. It has the following checks over the Executive Branch:
May override presidential vetoes with a two-thirds vote
Has the power over the purse strings to actually fund any executive actions
May remove the president through impeachment
Senate approves treaties
Senate approves presidential appointments
The Legislative Branch has the following checks over the Judicial Branch:
Creates lower courts
May remove judges through impeachment
Senate approves appointments of judges
Checks and Balances of the Executive Branch
The Executive Branch is given the power to carry out the laws. It has the following checks over the Legislative Branch:
Veto power
Ability to call special sessions of Congress
Can recommend legislation
Can appeal to the people concerning legislation and more
The Executive Branch has the following checks over the Judicial Branch:
President appoints Supreme Court and other federal judges
Checks and Balances of the Judicial Branch
The Judicial Branch is given the power to interpret the laws. It has the following checks over the Executive Branch:
Judges, once appointed for life, are free from controls from the executive branch
Courts can judge executive actions to be unconstitutional through the power of judicial review
The Judicial Branch has the following checks over the Legislative Branch:
Courts can judge legislative acts to be unconstitutional.
Even though there have been times when one branch has risen preeminent, overall the three branches have achieved a workable balance with no one branch holding all the governmental power.

2.1 Congress, its composition and functions - 1.2 & 1.3
Composition
The House of Representatives is made up of 435 elected members, divided among the 50 states in proportion to their total population. In addition, there are 6 non-voting members, representing the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and four other territories of the United States. The Representatives elect the Speaker of the House, who is the presiding officer of the chamber.
The Senate is composed of 100 Senators, 2 for each state. They are elected to six-year terms by the people of each state. Senator's terms are arranged so that about one-third of them is up for reelection every two years. The Vice President of the United States (elected along with the President by the Electoral College) serves as President of the Senate.

2.2 What does the executive branch do? - 1.2 & 1.3
3.1 Name the most important documents in the USA.
The Declaration of Independence: On July 4th, Americans celebrate the former colonies’ independence from Great Britain and passage of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston were appointed to a committee to draft a declaration of independence. Adopted on September 17, 1787.
The Constitution - the supreme law of the USA. Consists of a preamble, seven original articles (legislative, executive, judicial powers, the states, amendments to the C., ?-supremacy-oathsприсяга, ratification), 27 amendments and a paragraph certifying its enactment by the constitutional convention.
The Bill of Rights - the first 10 amendments to the Constitution
Amendments to the Constitution (11-27)
The Federalist Papers - a series of 85 essays promoting the ratification of the U.S Constitution
The Anti-Federalist Papers- 85 articles written in opposition to the ratification of the U.S Const.
3.2 What is the federal system?
A federal system of government is one that divides the powers of government between the national (federal) government and state and local governments. The Constitution of the United States established the federal system: he last four Articles (4-7) frame the principle of federalism. Under federalism, each level of government has sovereignty in some areas and shares powers in other areas. For example: both the federal and state governments have the power to tax. Only the federal government can declare war.
3.3 How is power distributed among the federal government and the state governments?
At first system of government was described in the Articles of Confederation (strong states, weak national gov.). They wrote the Constitution, to replace the Articles of Confederation and divide power between the national government and the state governments - federalism.
While each of the 50 states has its own constitution, all provisions of state constitutions must comply with the U.S. Constitution.
Exclusive Powers of the National Government
  Print money (bills and coins)
  Declare war
  Establish an army and navy
  Enter into treaties with foreign governments
  Regulate commerce between states and international trade
  Establish post offices and issue postage
  Make laws necessary to enforce the Constitution
Exclusive Powers reserved to State Governments
  Establish local governments
  Issue licenses (driver, hunting, marriage, etc.)
  Regulate intrastate (within the state) commerce
  Conduct elections
  Ratify amendments to the U.S. Constitution
  Provide for public health and safety
  Exercise powers not delegated to the national government / prohibited from the states by the U.S.
  Constitution (For example, setting legal drinking and smoking ages.)
Powers or "concurrent" Shared by National and State Government
  Setting up courts
  Creating and collecting taxes
  Building highways
  Borrowing money
  Making and enforcing laws
  Chartering banks and corporations
  Spending money for the betterment of the general welfare
  Taking (condemning) private property with just compensation
4.1 Who can become a president in the USA?
Article II, of the Constitution sets the qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office of president. A president must:
be a natural born citizen of the United States;
 be 35 years old;
have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least 14 years.
A person who meets the above qualifications is still disqualified from holding the office of president under any of the following conditions:
Under the 22 Amendment, no person can be elected president more than twice.
Under Article I, upon conviction in impeachment cases, the Senate can disqualify convicted-осужденных individuals from holding other federal offices, including the presidency.
Under the 14 Amendment, the Constitution prohibits a person from becoming president who swore an oath to support the Constitution and later rebelled against the United States. However, the Congress, by a two-thirds vote of each house, can remove the disqualification.
4.2 What is the Electoral College?
Voters (in the general election) in each state actually cast a vote for a block of electors who are pledged to vote for a particular candidate. These electors, in turn, vote for the presidential candidate. Each state is apportioned a number of electors equal to the total number of their Congressional delegation.
In December (following the general election), the electors cast their votes. When the votes are counted on January 6th, the Presidential candidate that gets more than half (270) wins the election. The President-elect and Vice President-elect take the oath of office and are inaugurated two weeks later, on January 20th.
4.3 What are the main political parties in the USA?
Current United States Congressional seats
Political Party
House of Repr.
Senate
Democratic Party obama
192
51
Republican Party
240
47
Connecticut for Lieberman
0
1
Independent (a non-party politician)
0
1
Vacant
3
0

5.1 The Crown. What are the functions of the monarch in the UK?
Functions. The Queen is not only head of State, but also an important symbol of national unity. In law she is:
•	Head of the executive
•	An integral part of the legislature
•	Head of the judiciary
•	Commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown
•	The “supreme governor” of the established Church of England
As a result of a long process of evolution, during which the monarchy’s absolute power has been progressively reduced, the Queen acts on the advice of her ministers. Britain is governed by Her Majesty’s Government and the devolved authorities in the name of the Queen.
In spite of a trend during the past hundred years towards giving powers directly to ministers, The Queen still takes part in some important acts of government. These include summoning, proroguing-which means stopping Parliament meeting without ending the session-and dissolving Parliament; and giving Royal Assent to Bills passed by Parliament and the Scottish Parliament. The Queen also formally appoints many important office holders. She is also involved in pardoning people convicted of crimes; and conferring peerages, knighthoods and other honours.
5.2 Her Majesty’s Government. What does ‘Cabinet government’ mean?
The monarch appoints a Prime Minister as the head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, guided by the strict convention that the Prime Minister should be the member of the House of Commons most likely to be able to form a Government with the support of that House. In practice, this means that the leader of the political party with an absolute majority of seats in the House of Commons is chosen to be the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister then selects the other Ministers which make up the Government and act as political heads of the various Government Departments. About 20 of the most senior government ministers make up the Cabinet and approximately 100 ministers in total comprise the government. In accordance with constitutional convention, all ministers within the government are either Members of Parliament or peers in the House of Lords.
The Prime Minister, as the label suggests, is the prime or senior minister in the Cabinet. She/he is responsible for chairing Cabinet meetings, selecting Cabinet ministers (and all other positions in Her Majesty's government), and formulating governmental policy.
6.1 UK Parliamentary Electoral system. Who may vote and who cannot vote in the UK?
First Past the Post is the current system for electing MPs (Member of Parliament) to the House of Commons. It is a plurality system with 650 separate constituencies each electing a single Member of Parliament. Winning candidates simply need to gain more votes than any other candidate; this need not be an absolute majority of all the votes cast in a constituency. The party with the most MPs after a general election and The First Past the Post voting usually forms the Government. The next largest party becomes the official Opposition. If an MP does not have a political party, they are known as an 'Independent'.
To be able to vote in a UK Parliamentary election, you must be:
  Aged 18 or over,
  A citizen of the UK, a Commonwealth country or the Republic of Ireland,
  Resident in a constituency and on the electoral register, and
  Not in a category barred from voting:
   Members of the House of Lords
  Those in prison
  People convicted of electoral malpractice are barred for five years.
  "idiots" may not vote and "lunatics" only during their lucid periods. Those compulsorily detained in psychiatric hospitals, for example, cannot vote.
6.2 What is a by-election?
- an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections. Usually, it occurs when the incumbent has died or resigned, but it may also occur when the incumbent becomes ineligible to continue in office, for example because of a recall, ennoblement (возведение в дворянский титул), or a sufficiently serious criminal conviction.
6.3 The Political Party system. Which political party is in power now?
Nearly all MPs represent political parties. The party with the most MPs after a general election and The First Past the Post voting usually forms the Government. The next largest party becomes the official Opposition. If an MP does not have a political party, they are known as an 'Independent'.
As of 17 September 2010 (2010 -09-17) it shows the number of registered (in The Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties) political parties as 392 in Great Britain, and 43 in Northern Ireland
Today there are three major political parties in the British system of politics:
The Labour Party (often called New Labour) – the centre-Left party currently led by Ed Miliband - 258 seats at the last General Election held in May 2010 - Opposition
The Conservative Party (frequently called the Tories) – the centre-Right party currently led by David Cameron - 306 seats - Ruling
The Liberal Democrat Party (known as the Lib Dems) – the centrist, libertarian party currently led by Nick Clegg - 57 seats
7.1 Westminster Parliament. Its functions and composition.
Functions of Parliament are to:
make all UK law
provide, by voting for taxation, the means of carrying on the work of government
protect the public and safeguard the rights of individuals
examine government policy and administration, including proposals for expenditure (money spent by government)
examine European proposals before they become law
hear appeals in the House of Lords, the highest Court of Appeal in Britain
debate the major issues of the day.
Parliament has a maximum duration of five years.
Composition
The House of Lords. Membership is not attained by election from the population as a whole, but by inheritance or by appointment (Lords Temporal), or by virtue of their within the established church (Lords Spiritual).
The Lords Spiritual are 26 senior bishops of the Church of England.
The Lords Temporal make up the rest of the membership; of these, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Membership was once a right of birth to hereditary peers but only 91, elected by the House from the hereditary peers, remain as members.
The number of members is not fixed; as of November 2010 the House of Lords had 738 members, as against the fixed 650-seat membership of the House of Commons.
The House of Commons. 650 members.
HM Government
Con (306)
Lib Dem (57)
HM Official Opposition
Lab (258)
Other Opposition
DUP (8)
SNP (6)
Plaid (3)
SF (5, Abstention)
SDLP (3)
Greens (1)
Independent (1)
Alliance (1)
Speaker
Speaker and Deputies (4)
7.2 The House of Lords Reform.
The Lords was once the stronger of the two houses of Parliament. The rising wealth of the Commons eventually allowed it to wage two civil wars, dethrone two Kings, and gradually reduce the power of the Lords. Prior to the House of Lords Act 1999 the power of the Lords had been diminished by the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 After eighteen years of Conservative rule, the Labour party led by Tony Blair won the 1997 general election. In the first year of Tony Blair's government traditionally Conservative House of Lords rejected Labour bills thirty-eight times. Blair claimed that the Conservatives were using the hereditary peers to "frustrate" and "overturn the will of the democratically elected House of Commons”
The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. The Act reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament.
The Act decreased the membership of the House from 1,330 (October 1999) to 669 (March 2000)
The Lords currently possess no governmental power whatsoever except to delay a bill passed by the Commons. They can attach and suggest amendments to bills, but these amendments are not binding and the Commons has no obligation whatsoever to follow them

12.2 What has been done in many countries to improve the situation?
Clean Air Acts UK US Canada NewZealand. An environmental law governing the emission of air pollutants from human sources into the atmosphere. It may also refer to the regulation of indoor air quality (air quality within and around buildings and structures) for the protection of human health.  Governmental imposition of clean air standards has contributed to an improvement in human health and longer life spans.
Kyoto Protocol - an international agreement reached in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan to address the problems of climate change. It commits 38 industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
They should:
promote the awareness of citizens through education and propaganda
sustainable development
encourding the usage of alternative forms of energy
Decentralise energy supply systems: Legislate that new buildings in industrial nations should be CO2-free, with a power station in the basement.
Stop allowing most airlines to escape paying fuel duty.
Raise taxes on fuel-heavy cars
New laws committing governments to reducing CO2 every year by a fixed amount are needed
12.3 Could you name some other environmental threats?
Acid Rain, Deforestation, rain forest destruction, Ozone Depletion, Toxic Waste, Radioactive Contamination, drop of crop production and food supply, Noise Pollution, biodiversity loss, tsunami, melting glaciers,
13.1 What is your opinion on the use of nuclear power?
Banned. Alternative forms of energy instead. Hazardous. Contamination. No guarantee they are stable.
13.2 Do you think alternative forms of energy should be encouraged? Which ones?
Solar energy: Energy from the natural sunlight is captured through a solar panel. Silicon absorbs sunlight and then changes it into electrical energy. But: can only be reaped during daytime + only 50% of energy received by a panel can be converted into electricity.
Kinetic energy of wind. The blades of a windmill spin, which in turn power a generator. Investment cost is high, no short-term benefits
Water. Hydroelectricity is generated by damming-запруживание rivers and using the potential energy of the stored water. Affordable.
Hydrogen. Electric current is passed through water to separate hydrogen from oxygen. The resulting gas, Hydrogen, is then stored in tanks. Used in the car industry: eco-friendly and safer than gasoline.
Geo-thermal (earth’s heat). Heat from under the ground is used to generate steam which in turn is used to run turbine. E.g. from volcano.
Bio-fuel refers to fuels made from plants or animals, e.g. ethanol from plants, or methane from animal excrement.
13.3 What do Environmental activists do?
increase in the awareness among people about various issues concerning the effect, human activities have had on the environment through public rallies, marathons, sit-ins etc.
provide employment to people passionate about environmental conservation (depends on donations)
get the government to put in legislation concerning environmental problems
14.1 What are advantages and disadvantages of industrial development?
+ Industrialisation has the potential to help achieve a variety of social objectives such as employment, poverty eradication, gender equality, labour standards, and greater access to education and healthcare.
-  At the same time, industrial processes can have negative environmental impacts, causing climate change, loss of natural resources, air and water pollution and extinction of species. These threaten the global environment as well as economic and social welfare.
14.2 What is global warming?
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about 0.8 °C with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades.
It happens when greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap heat and light from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere, which increases the temperature.
14.3 Why do environmental problems require the cooperation of all nations?
Today we are confronted with grave env-al problems which call for full international cooperation.
The first reason is that environmental issues are not confined to one single country. Problems such as freshwater crisis, ozone depletion and acceleration of species extinction have negative impacts on most countries. Therefore, solving these problems is a great responsibility which should be shared by all nations and demands concerted efforts.
Besides, tackling environmental problems is far beyond one or two countries' competences. Take the global warming which may cause serious consequences to human beings in the future for instance, it is impossible to pick out one country which can solve this problem solely by itself.
Practical problems of international cooperation. The most likely one is that differing attitudes and approaches in countries could possibly lead to inefficiency in solving these problems. However, instead, countries should make efforts to break the ice and so reach a consensus.