Unit 38: Politics and public institutions

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate » Unit 38: Politics and public institutions

Word List

Exercises

38.1 ‣ Circle the correct word from the choices offered.

A member of parliament _____ his or her constituency.
- governs
- rules
- represents
India gained from the UK in 1948.
- republic
- independence
- democracy
On _____ day electors cast their votes.
- electing
- voting
- polling
She's _____ for Parliament in the next election.
- running
- sitting
- walking
His father was _____ MP for Cambridge City.
- voted
- stood
- elected
What is your country's economic _____?
- politics
- policy
- politician
The USA is a _____ of 50 states.
- legislature
- federation
- congress
Although modern monarchs are said to _____ over their countries they have little real power.
- rule
- govern
- preside

38.2 ‣ Look at this text about politics in the UK. Fill in the missing words.

Parliament in the UK consists of two ¹: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The country is divided into ²_____, each of which elects a(n) ³_____ to represent it in the House of Commons. The ruling party in the Commons is the one which gains a ⁴_____ of seats. The main figure in that party is called the ⁵_____. Sometimes more than one party may share power in a ⁶_____ government. The Commons is elected for a maximum period of five years although the Prime Minister may call a general ⁷_____ at any time within that period.

38.3 ‣ Match the sentence beginnings on the left with the endings on the right.

The President appointed his uncle
The Prime Minister presides _____
In last year's election I voted _____
Lee says he would never want to stand _____
Put a cross beside the name you want _____
I haven't decided yet how to cast _____
I'm not keen on the candidate who won _____
We had five candidates to choose _____

a) over a Cabinet of Ministers.
b) on the ballot paper.
c) as a judge.
d) from in our constituency.
e) the seat in our constituency.
f) for the Green Party candidate.
g) for political office.
h) my vote.

38.4 ‣ Find a word from the Language help section to match each definition.

the person with the highest political position in a republic
someone who speaks or does something officially, on behalf of a group of people _____
the leader of a country, e.g. a monarch or dictator _____
the period of office of the person with the highest political position in a republic _____
system used for controlling a country _____
the group of people who are entitled to vote _____
to act officially for a group of people _____

38.5 ‣

Over to you

Write a paragraph about the political system in your country. Make sure your paragraph deals with all the following aspects of the topic appropriate to your country:

kind of government, e.g. are public or a monarchy chambers or houses elections terms of office government leader

Answer Key

A ‣ Types of government

A ‣ Types of government

republic: a state governed by representatives and, usually, a president (e.g. USA, France)

monarchy: a state ruled by a king or queen (e.g. UK, Sweden)

federation: a union of political units (e.g. provinces) under a central government (e.g. USA)

democracy: government of, by and for the people

dictatorship: system of government run by a dictator

independence: freedom from outside control; self-governing

B ‣ Presidential and parliamentary government (US and UK)

B ‣ Presidential and parliamentary government (US and UK)

United States Presidential government: The powers of the President and the legislature (Congress) are separate. These branches of government are elected¹ separately. The President is elected for a four-year term and can appoint² or nominate high officials in government, including cabinet members (who advise) and federal judges. The President leads a major party, usually, but not always, the majority party³ in Congress. Congress consists of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

United Kingdom Parliamentary government: The government consists of a legislature⁴ (Parliament) and a Cabinet of Ministers⁵ from the majority party in Parliament. If no party has an overall majority, there may be a coalition government formed from more than one party. The Prime Minister is the head of the government and the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister selects high officials and heads⁶ the Cabinet. Parliament consists of two chambers, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. MPs are members of parliament elected from each constituency⁷ to the House of Commons.

¹ chosen by vote
² decide who to give positions of authority to
³ political party which won the most votes
⁴ group of people who make new laws
⁵ group of most important ministers
⁶ is the leader of
⁷ geographical voting area

C ‣ Parliamentary elections

C ‣ Parliamentary elections

During a general election each constituency has to choose which politician it wants as its representative. Usually there are several candidates to choose from. These candidates are all standing ( or running) for Parliament. They present the policies, i.e. their party's plans. On polling day every adult goes to the polling station and casts a vote by marking a cross on their ballot paper. The candidate who gets the majority of votes wins the seat. If the vote is very close, the constituency may be referred to as a marginal seat.

Language help

Here are some word families relating to words on this page.

verb	person noun	abstract noun
rule	ruler	rule
govern	governor	government
preside (often followed by over)	president	presidency
represent	representative	representation
elect	elector; electorate (group of people)	election

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