Teacher: Good morning, everybody! I’m glad to greet all the guests & students of our 

                 lesson.  We have met today to speak about an ideal state as we understand it. I

                 would like to start our lesson with a poem of Albert Kahn. Here it is:

                                                  I claim the human right to live

                                                  I claim the human right to love

                                                  I claim the human right to work.

                                                  I claim the right to every child to eat.

      In his poem the writer proclaims the right for everybody to live happily on the Earth.

I’d like to have this poem as the motto for our lesson, because it deals with the problem of the human to have equal rights. It supposes that all people will have equal rights in our imaginary ideal state.

      But before speaking about an ideal state let’s revise your knowledge of political systems in some real countries. Three groups look forward with much pleasure to present you there homework-the information about the Russian Federation, the USA, & Great Britain. I give the floor to the first group-the Russian Federation.

Pupil 1:Our group presents the political system of the Russian Federation in the  

                      scheme.

Pupil 2 приклеивает на доску табличку “ the President”.

               The Russian Federation is a presidential republic. The President is the head of state and is elected by the people directly. In fact he has much power. The President can even dissolve the Duma if it doesn’t agree with his suggestions three times running. The President has his Administration but it is not part of the Federal Government. The President is involved in the work of the legislative and executive branches.

Pupil 3: приклеивает на доску табличку  “ the Federal Assembly”. Наташа проводит мелом стрелочки от президента к федеральному собранию  и наоборот.

                The Federal Assembly represents the legislative branch of power. It is made up of the two houses: the Federal Council and the Duma which make laws. The President can veto laws passed by the Federal Assembly but the Federal Assembly can pass laws over the President’s veto by two-thirds majority.’

Pupil 4: приклеивает на доску табличку  “ the Federal Government”. Наташа проводит мелом стрелочки от президента к федеральному правительству и от  Думы к федеральному правительству.

                The Federal Government represents the executive branch of power. The President appoints its head, the Chairman of the Government but the Duma must approve his appointment.

            Наташа прикрепляет табличку с надписью “the Supreme Court”.

                The Supreme Court represents the judicial branch of power.

            Наташа прикрепляет табличку с надписью “the Constitutional Court”.

                  The Constitutional Court has the right to declare actions of the President, the Federal Assembly and the Federal Government unconstitutional. Наташа проводит мелом стрелочки от конституционного суда к президенту, к фед. собранию и к фед. правительству.

Pupil 1: приклеивает на доску табличку  “ the people”.

                 The people always deserve the Government & the leader which they elect.

Teacher: Thank you very much. The second group-the USA.

Two of the representatives of our group went to USA Government to know as much as possible about their political system. Today they are here. Will you listen to them and ask questions.

-          We see you are full of impressions. You know a lot about the political system of the country you visited. Did you, Kate like it?

-          That was really surprising. I saw the Senate and the House of Representatives in action while they were in session. It was terrific. Oh, you must see it to understand how great it was.

-          What special have you learnt about the functions of each branch of power?

-          Nothing special, but there are three levels of government : national, state and local. The Federal Government makes laws, collects taxes, provides services, as well as national and international security. The legislative branch of the US government includes Congress, which consists of the Senate and the House of the Representatives. Congress makes laws, and each house of Congress has the power to introduce legislation, established federal taxes and how money it spent, regulates commerce among the states and with foreign countries.

-          And what is the President responsible for?

-          The President of the USA is responsible for enforcing laws, choosing high government officials, commanding the army, conducting foreign affairs, and recommending laws to Congress. But Americans say, “ The Presidents proposes, but the Congress disposes”

-          What can you say about the judicial branch of power?

-          In the USA the third branch of government, the judicial branch, is much more powerful than in some other countries. It is involved in the system of checks and balances. The three main branches of government are separate from one another. The powers given to each are balanced by the other two. Each branch is a check on the others. This system protects against extremes.

-          Which institution represents the judicial branch?

-          The Supreme Court does.

-          Well,   Kate & Christy, thank you for so interesting information.

Teacher: Thank you very much. The third  group-Great Britain.

Pupil 5: The British monarchy is one of the oldest in the world. It is for ten centuries

            from William I to Elizabeth II. The great names of Queen Victiria & the King Edward are well-known all over the world.

Pupil 6:  Winston Churchill often described parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarch as not perfect- but the best that the man had yet created. It is human nature to need a leader in the helm.

Pupil 7: The Queen has powers that can surprise many. She can choose a Prime Minister, dissolve Parliament and declare war like an absolute monarch. But in reality, she does not have these powers and acts under the tradition on the advice of Parliament. It has prevented a dictator from ruling Great Britain since Oliver Cromwell’s short period in the 17^th century.

Teacher:  Thank you the third group. Take your places. Of course, I knew that the third       group would speak only about the British monarchy. But I want you to listen to some more information about the political system of Great Britain. Will you listen to tape-recording. There are two mistakes in the information. Your task to find it. You can use the scheme on page 42 in your text-books. Open them, please. I want you to pay particular attention to the distribution of power between the monarch & Parliament. You’ll listen to it only once.

TAPE - RECORDING

Teacher: What is wrong?

Pupil 1: The Lords have real influence in politics. As far as I know it is not true.

Yes, you are right. But who has the real power in Britain?

Pupil 1: The House of Commons has.

Teacher: And what is another mistake?

Pupil 2: The largest party in the Commons forms the government.

Teacher: And what is your opinion who forms the government?

Pupil 2: I think the Queen does it.

Teacher: I’m afraid I disagree with you. The scheme on page 42 vividly shows that                                                                                               exactly the Commons form the British government. Pay attention, will you? What is the second mistake?

Pupil 3: I don’t agree that officially Parliament appoints the Prime Minister. I believe that the Queen officially appoints the Prime Minister.

Teacher: How right you are. Thank you, boys & girls. The following part of our lesson will be devoted to making the system of an ideal state. You will work in groups. The first group will try to make the scheme of ruling of an ideal state. We have made sure that they are great specialists in scheming. The second group will think about the rights of the citizens in this ideal state. At last the third group will speculate about an ideal leader. You have paper, markers , text-books & readers at your disposal. Make sure each member of the group has an opportunity to express his or her opinion. I don’t want you to spend more than seven minutes on it. Then you’ll present your meanings. We’ll have background the eloquent “The Beatles” while you are working. I hope they’ll help you. Let’s start.

GROUP WORK

Teacher : Time is up. The  first group,please.

                   Natasha:- We`d like to represent you a scheme of ruling our imaginary state.

                                     Our state will be a presidential state. So it`s quite clear that the president is the head of state there. He is elected by the people. In fact he has much power. The president has his Presidential Council. The president is involved in the work of the legislative and executive branches.

                                     The Supreme Council represents the legislative branch of power. It is made up of the two houses: The Federal Council & Federal Community which make laws. The president can veto laws passed by the Supreme Council but the Supreme Council can pass laws over the president`s veto by a two- thirds majority.

                                     The Supreme Government represents the executive branch of power. The president appoints it`s head, the Chairman of the Government but the  Supreme Council must approve his appointment.

                                      The Supreme Court represents the judicial branch of power. The president appoints federal judges. It can declare presidential acts unconstitutional.

Ruslan:                                                                                                                                                                                                 The Supreme Council exercises the legislative power. The Federal Council   makes , discuss, draft a new law. It can examine bills, vote on the bills and revise bills. The Federal Community can approve and delay bills. The executive institution –the Supreme Government rules the country in fact. It determines government policy and coordinates government departments. The Supreme Court exercises the function of the highest judicial body in the country. The Presidential Council gives advice the President.

Pupil 3: We say that our state will be democratic. The word “democracy” is translated from Greek as “the power of people”. We hope that it will be a really democratic state. We have made a sociological everybody’s exchange and some notes what state it will be. Here they are:

Our Government will attach the highest importance to national security and to preserving peace with freedom and justice.

Our Government will work for new agreement on arms control and disarmament. We will seek greater co-operation and trust between east and west.

Pupil 7: We will work to promote enterprise and employment, to remove barriers to internal trade, for improvements in world trade rules.

Our Government will honour our commitments to the people.

Our Government will work in consultation with the partners in the European Community.

Our Government will make vigorous efforts to combat international terrorism and trafficking in drugs.

PROS                                                                          CONS

                  national security                                                                 unemployment

                  freedom                                                                                 international terrorism

                   justice                                                                                    trafficking drugs

                   arms control

                   disarmament

                   partnership with the European Community

Teacher: How clever of you. The second group what rights are guaranteed by your Constitution.

Our Constitution guarantees the following rights:

1. People shall never be jobless.
2. Old people shall be protected by the state.
3. Everyone should obey the law, even the President.
4. Freeman should not be punished without a fair trial in court.
5. No one shall have power over life and death.
6. No human being should be a slave.
7. Nobody has the right to be a master.
8. People must be devoted to their duties, to justice.
9. People shall have the right to rule the country through their representatives or directly.
10. People shall have the right to free medical service and free education.

Some people think that in politics much depends on the personality of a politician. Will you characterize a politician you would like to be the head of an ideal state.

Teacher: Thank you for your honest characteristic. Most of all I like the uniform of judoist. I propose to hold the presidential elections next lesson. I want you to think and to make up the political programme as if you were a candidate for the presidency of the Russian Federation. On next Tuesday we will listen to your suggestions and elect the best leader according to our view.

                   Today we’ve tried to understand the politics. I must admit that not everything was successful. Things are not easy nowadays even for adults, but for teenagers who find their own place in society it is very difficult. You must realize that soon you will rule our country. You will have a chance to make our Russia an ideal state. I wish you good luck. Thank you everybody for your job.