PolICY, PolItICS and PolItICIanS

 

Цілі: вдосконалювати лексичні навички й навички вимови; вдосконалюва- ти навички аудіювання, читання й усного мовлення; розвивати логічне мис- лення; виховувати толерантне ставлення до інших i національну самосвідо- мість.

 

Procedure

 

1. Warm-up

 

Клас

 

 

Дата

1) What is Ukraine most famous for?

2) What things about Ukraine do you think Ukrainians are proud of?

 

2. speaking

1) How interested are you in politics?

2) What type of political system does your country have?

3) What are the main political parties in your country?

4) How long is the term of elected officials in your country?

5) What is your opinion about actors or actresses who run for a position in politics?

6) Would you vote for an actor or actress who campaigns for a govern- ment position? Why or why not?

 

3. Reading and speaking

Do ex. 8, p. 242.

 

4. Vocabulary practice

Do ex. 1, p. 243.

 

5. Listening

Listen to someone’s opinion as for politics and express your own atti- tude to this problem.

1) What do you think about politics and politicians in our country?

2) Who needs politics?

Politics, politics, politics; who needs them? Unfortunately, we do. But,

do we really need politics as usual? Lately, it seems that all we hear about is politics, the politics of running for political office, the politics of which party is best and even the politics of whether we need politics. Imagine a world where no politicians existed, and no one sat around arguing over

their politics. In this utopia, everyone would either agree on everything

or amicably disagree, with no recourse to political in-fighting or partisan party politics. While this scenario sounds great, it probably won’t happen this side of heaven.

As long as you have people, you will have differences of opinion; as long

as you have differences, you will need a way to settle those differences. You

will need policies in place to protect each citizen, and you will need politi- cians of some sort to monitor, apply and enforce those policies. Unfortu-

nately, that opens the door to politics. The problem, really, is not so much

politics as politicians.

In a Republic, such as the United States, the people vote for representa-

tion. The person elected is expected to follow the will of the majority in his or her area of representation, whether that be at the federal, state, district,

county, township or other level. The founders of this republic, set it up that

way so as to limit the possibility of “mob rule” where the majority of vot- ers could turn policy at will. The majority still counts, but does so more in- directly.

Whether the established government consists of a Republic, a Demo- cracy, a Monarchy or some other form of government, it needs people at its head to keep it running properly. Of course, in our utopia, each per- son would act appropriately and never let power, monitary gain or personal agenda corrupt his or her actions in behalf of the people he or she serves. In the United States, voters can send a clear message to corrupt politicians through their vote, even though they obviously do not always do so.

Politics really breaks down at this level, regardless of the type of go- vernment. The individual has a responsibility to act on their freedoms, es- pecially if he or she has the freedom to vote. The individual has a responsi- bility to monitor his or her politicians for ethics and stance. In other words, if the individual takes the time to become informed and then use his or her vote to let politicians know he or she will not tolerate corruption, a strong message is sent to the politician. If all do this, politics, and politicians, will be in check.

But what happens between the individual’s votes? The vote itself is not the only responsibility a citizen should take on. In between votes, while a politician is in office, the individual has the responsibility to continue monitoring of his or her politician and speaking up when things go wrong. Citizens often allow lobbyists to set up camp in the political world and in- fluence the politician, unaware of his or her own right to speak up and lobby for a politician’s interest by writing, calling, or e-mailing between votes to let his or her voice be heard.

Yes, we unfortunately need politics and politicians, but we also need to remember: they work for us! We get the government that we allow, so each citizen needs to speak up. One voice can make a difference, especially when that voice is joined to another voice and another voice. By remaining silent, the citizen participates in the corruption or misrepresentation of govern- ment. By speaking up, he or she becomes part of the solution and part of the wheels that keep government going in the right direction, in spite of politics.

 

6. Vocabulary practice

Do ex. 2, p. 244.

 

7. Reading

Do ex. 3, p. 245.

 

8. summary

1) Would you like to work in politics?

2) Is politics important to you?

3) Should religion and politics mix?

4) Do you read about the political issues of your country?

5) What can governments do about poverty?

6) Is military service required in your country? Do you think it’s a good idea?

7) Do you think it’s important for a country to have a strong military?

Why or why not?

8) How are government officials chosen in your country? Do you think this method is fair?

9) In your opinion, how much should governments contribute to univer- sity education?

 

9. Homework

Write about a political person you admire.

Lesson 83

 

ConStItUtIon oF UkraIne

 

Цілі: вдосконалювати навички вживання non-finite forms of the verb і навички вимови; вдосконалювати навички аудіювання, читання й письма; розвивати культуру спілкування й мовленнєву реакцію учнів; виховувати національну самосвідомість і зацікавленість у розширенні своїх знань.

 

Клас

 

 

Дата

 

 

 

1. Warm-up

Do ex. 4, p. 245.

 

2. Grammar practice

Do ex. 1, p. 246.

 

3. Writing

Do ex. 2, p. 246.

 

4. Reading

Do ex. 3, p. 247.

 

5. Writing

Do ex. 4, p. 247.

Procedure

 

6. Reading and vocabulary practice

Read the text and do the tasks on the cards.

CONSTITUTION OF UKRAINE

The political system of Ukraine, its laws, its home and foreign policy,

the rights and duties of its citizens are established, based and guaranteed by the Constitution. There have been several previous constitutional docu-

ments in the history of Ukraine (1710, 1918, 1919, 1929, 1937, 1978). The

new Constitution of Ukraine as an independent, sovereign, democratic, so-

cial and legal state was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on June 28, 1996 as

the Fundamental Law of the country.

The idea of a constitution was first elaborated by Greek philosopher

Aristotle / 84–322 B.C. / in his classification of governments. The modern

idea of Constitution came after the Reformation begun by Luther in 1517.

The first constitutional document in history of Ukraine was the

Constitution of Bendery of 1710. The chief author of the Constitution was Pylyp Orlyk, who was elected Hetman on April 16, 1710 in Bendery. The

Constitution was signed by Hetman P.Orlyk, his officers and the Zapor-

izhzhian Cossacks.

The constitution consisted of 16 articles. It proclaimed the Orthodox

faith to be faith of Ukraine, reflected the interests of the Zaporizhzhian Cossacks, limited the powers of the Hetman, established a unique Cossack

parliament, protected the rights of towns and limited the taxation of peas-

ants and poor Cossacks.

The Constitution of the Ukrainian National Republic was adopted on

April 29, 1918. The Constitution had 83 articles. In accordance with the Constitution the UNR was a sovereign, independent and free state. The

people of Ukraine had the right to exercise power through the National As-

sembly.

The Constitution did not specify the borders of Ukraine, but the terri-

tory was indivisible. The citizens of the republic were guaranteed basic civil

and political rights.

 

7. summary

Tell about an important political event in your country’s recent history.

8. Homework

Tell about the last important local political issue in your town.

 

CARD 1

True or False

1) The first constitutional document in Ukraine appeared in the 18th century.

2) There have been more than six constitutions in the history of

Ukraine.

3) Juridical power in Ukraine is represented by the Cabinet of Minis- ters.

4) Men and women have the equal rights.

5) Not all people have the right to dwelling.

6) The state language of Ukraine is Russian.

Fill in the gaps.

 

freedom laws branch law power government agree democracy executive

 

The United States is a (1) …. The Constitution of the USA guarantees individual (2) … to all.

The Constitution sets the basic form of (3) …: it has three branches —

legislative, (4) … and judiciary.

Congress, the legislative (5) … of the federal government, is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Congress makes all (6) …, and each house of Congress has the (7) … to support or reject a bill offered by the other. When they both pass a bill on which they (8) …, it is sent to the president for his signature. Only after that a bill becomes a (9) ….

Translate.

1) Україна — незалежна держава.

2) В 2009 році люди вибрали нового президента.

3) Закони України базуються на Конституції.

 

 

True or False

CARD 2

1) All mineral and natural resources belong to the Verkhovna Rada.

2) The Constitution guarantees freedom of thought and speech.

3) The Constitution specifies the powers and obligations of the presi- dent.

4) The highest body of the executive power is the Verkhovna Rada.

5) The President of Ukraine is the head of the state and speaks on behalf of it.

6) The Constitution was adopted on August 24, 1991.

Fill in the gaps.

 

are chief senators elected forces terms states more president

 

The members of the House of Representatives are (1) … for two years, and one-third of the Senators (2) … elected every two years for six-year (3) … of office. Each state, regardless of the population, has two (4) …, while the House of Representatives has more members from more popu- lated (5) ….The (6) … of the USA is elected every four years to a four-year term of office, with no (7) … than two full terms allowed. The President is the (8) … executive of the United States and also the commander-in-chief of the armed (9) ….

Translate.

1) Конституція України гарантує право на освіту.

2) Верховна Рада — орган законодавчої влади.

3) Конституція складається з 15 глав і 161 статей.

Lesson 84

 

InternatIonal organIzatIonS

 

Цілі: формувати навички вживання нових лексичних одиниць; вдосконалю- вати навички читання, аудіювання й усного монологічного мовлення; розви- вати пізнавальні інтереси учнів; виховувати любов до своєї країни й націо- нальну самосвідомість.

 

Клас

 

 

Дата

 

 

 

1. Warm-up

Do ex. 1, p. 248.

 

2. Listening

Procedure

Listen about the Council of Europe and do ex. 2, p. 248.

The Council of Europe is an international organization promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal stand- ards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultur-

al co-operation. It was founded in 1949, has 47 member states with some

800 million citizens, and is an entirely separate body from the European

Union (EU), which has only 27 member states. Unlike the EU, the Coun-

cil of Europe cannot make binding laws. The two do however share certain

symbols such as the flag of Europe. The Council of Europe has nothing to

do with either the Council of the European Union or the European Council,

which are both EU bodies.

The best known bodies of the Council of Europe are the European

Court of Human Rights, which enforces the European Convention on Hu-

man Rights, and the European Pharmacopoeia Commission, which sets the

quality standards for pharmaceutical products in Europe. The Council of Europe’s work has resulted in standards, charters and conventions to fa-

cilitate cooperation between European countries.

Its statutory institutions are the Committee of Ministers comprising

the foreign ministers of each member state, the Parliamentary Assembly composed of MPs from the parliament of each member state, and the Secre-

tary General heading the secretariat of the Council of Europe. The Commis-

sioner for Human Rights is an independent institution within the Council

of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of and respect for human rights

in the member states.

The headquarters of the Council of Europe are in Strasbourg, France,

with English and French as its two official languages. The Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress also use German,

Italian, and Russian for some of their work.

While the member states of the European Union transfer national le- gislative and executive powers to the European Commission and the Euro-

pean Parliament in specific areas under European Community law, Council

of Europe member states maintain their sovereignty but commit themselves through conventions (i.e., public international law) and co-operate on the basis of common values and common political decisions. Those conventions and decisions are developed by the member states working together at the

Council of Europe, whereas secondary European Community law is set by

the organs of the European Union. Both organizations function as concen- tric circles around the common foundations for European integration, with

the Council of Europe being the geographically wider circle. The European Union could be seen as the smaller circle with a much higher level of inte-

gration through the transfer of powers from the national to the EU level. Being part of public international law, Council of Europe conventions could

also be opened for signature to non-member states thus facilitating equal co-operation with countries outside Europe.