Russia is a presidential republic under the Constitution. The government consists of 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Legislative power is exercised by the Federal Assembly. It consists of 2 chambers: the Council of Federation and the State Duma. Each chamber is headed by the Chairman who is often called the Speaker. A bill may be introduced in any chamber, it becomes a law if it is approved by both chambers and signed by the President. The President may veto the bill.
The executive power belongs to the government of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The judicial power is represented by the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the regional courts.
The President controls all the branches. He is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, he makes treaties, enforces laws, appoints ministers.
The president is elected for a term of 6 years and can be re-elected for another term but not longer than this.
Russia now consists of entities – subjects of the Russian Federation:
republics . krays (territories) . oblasts (regions) . 2 cities of federal significance: Moscow and St Petersburg . one autonomous oblast (autonomic region) and autonomous okrugs (districts).
On 13th May 2000, 7 Federal Districts were created by presidential decree. This reform is aimed to make the federation function in a more controlled way. It is the job of the President to appoint a representative in each district. The federal districts are: Central (around Moscow) . North-Western (St Petersburg) . Volga (Nizhniy Novgorod) . Urals (Yekaterinburg) . Siberian (Novosibirsk) . Far Eastern (Khabarovsk) and Southern (Rostov-On-Don).
I. Choosetherightitem / Выберите правильный вариант:
1) The official name of our homeland is ….
a) Russia . b) the Russian Federation . c) the Republic of the Russian Federation.
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2) The National Government of Russia consists of ….
| a) the President and the Prime Minister | b) the President and the Council of Ministers | c) the President, the Council of Ministers and the Federal Assembly |
3) There are … Houses in the Federal Assembly.
a) two . b) three . c) four.
4) The lower House of the Federal Assembly is ….
a) the State Duma . b) the Council of Ministers . c) the Federal Council.
5) Supreme legislative power lies with ….
a) the President . b) the Prime Minister . c) the Federal Assembly.
6) The executive power in Russia belongs to ….
a) the Council of Ministers . b) the Federal Assembly . c) the President.
II. Answer the following questions / Ответьте на следующие вопросы:
1) What is another name of Russian under the Constitution?
2) Is Russia a presidential republic?
3) What is the supreme legislative body of the country?
4) What chambers does it consist of?
5) Who is the head of each chamber?
6) When does a bill become a law?
7) Whom does the executive power belong to?
8) What is the judicial branch like?
9) Does the President have any special powers? What are they?
10) What is the term of office of the President?
11) What are the subjects of Russian Federation?
12) Who appoints representative in each district?
13) How many federal districts are there in the Russian Federation?
