Практика перевода. Андросова М.А. - 38 стр.

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39
In the United States Government, the people are represented in one way by the
Congress and in another by the President. Each has the right and the means to appeal
directly to the people for support against the other, and they do. The effect is that the
struggle between the Executive and Congress varies between open hostilities and
armed truce, even when the President’s party is in control of Congress. Another
situation, that cannot occur in a parliament, arises when the people choose a President
of one party and a Congress of another, putting the executive and the legislative
branches automatically in opposition to each other.
The United States Congress is therefore more irresponsible than a parliament,
for the member of the President’s party can vote against an Administration proposal
without voting to have the President resign. This lack of responsibility encourages
demagogues in Congress to play for headlines, since the party in power does not feel
that strict discipline is a matter of life and death.
One effect of the separation of powers is that the Senate is as important a body
as the House. In other countries there is a tendency for the lower house, since it
controls the executive, to assume all the power, letting the upper house live on as a
debating society of elder statesmen.
The tradition of a two-chambered legislature is deeply rooted in American
political life. The colonial governments had two chambers and so do all the States
except Nebraska. But the principal reason that no one can conceive of any movement
toward a one-chamber Congress is that the United States is still a Federal Union of
large and small States.
The fact that all bills have to pass two different bodies does not cause delay in
emergencies when the people are united in favor of following the President’s
leadership. But on ordinary matters in ordinary times, legislation is slow, hearings are
duplicated, and an opposition has advantages over the proposition.
The Senate and the House of Representatives differ in their composition and
attitude, even though the Constitution has been amended to shift the election of
senators from the State legislatures to the plain voters. The senators average a few
years older than the congressmen. Congressmen often move up into the Senate, but
few ex-senators have ever run for the House. The senators are more distinguished by
their office because there are only 100 of them while there are 435 congressmen. A
seat in the Senate has a high publicity value which can be used for good or ill
purposes.

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