Elements of Government

A number of basic elements are common to all governments. These elements are (1) rules of conduct, (2) sovereignty ['sPvrIntI], (3) legitimacy, (4) jurisdiction, and (5) enforcement.

Rules of conduct. Every group of people--from a family to a nation--has rules of conduct to govern the lives of its members. For example, a family may have a rule that all its members be in time for meals. This rule makes it possible for the family members to eat together and then go about their own business. It is meant to keep life running smoothly for group members. The rules made by a group are really decisions about matters that affect the group as a whole. The decisions are designed to encourage or require certain kinds of behavior, or to discourage or forbid other kinds of behavior by individual members.

Sovereignty is supreme power or authority. A sovereign government has the authority to use force within its boundaries. Through the years, different ideas about the source of a public government's sovereignty have developed. An early idea was that a government ruled by divine right. This idea suggested that authority flowed to the government from God and was unlimited. Today, the people are regarded as the chief source of the government's authority in democratic countries.

Legitimacy is the acceptance by the people of the government's authority to exercise power. No political system can exist unless its government has such acceptance. The legitimacy of a government depends in part on the socialization of its people.

Socialization is a learning process in which the people come to accept the standards of their society. Most countries promote socialization through educational systems that teach people to have positive views about their government. In this way, people develop loyalty to such symbols of the government as a flag or national anthem ['xnT(q)m].

Jurisdiction means the right or power of making and enforcing rules or laws. The jurisdiction of a public government extends over all the people who live in a certain area. The only way a person can escape such jurisdiction is to move out of its area. Public governments have broad functional jurisdiction--the range of activities to which their rules or laws apply. Public governments in the United States govern behavior that affects national defense, social welfare, the economy, marriage and divorce, public health, education, taxation, and transportation. In addition, these public governments regulate most businesses, professions, and trades.

Law enforcement. Rules of conduct are not likely to have much effect unless people obey them. If the members of a group were permitted to ignore or disobey its rules, a society could not operate. Soon there would be no law or order. Most people obey the decisions of their group willingly. But some must be forced to obey by the threat of punishment. Clubs, corporations, and labor unions have officers who enforce their regulations. Cities, states, provinces, and nations have police officers, judges, and soldiers who enforce their laws. Enforcement usually means some kind of punishment for people found guilty of disobedience. Those who have the power to control behavior by making and enforcing the rules of a group are often called a power structure.

Probably the most important difference between private and public governments lies in how they enforce their rules or laws. Only public governments have the right to define certain acts as crimes or to use physical force against disobedient people. A private government may fine or even expel a disobedient member. But only a public government can legally imprison or execute a person.

2. Study the following phrases. Recall the sentences in which they are used in the text. Use them when retelling the unit.

a) to enforce [In'fO:s] (нав’язувати, проводити в життя, забезпечувати дотримання або виконання) = 1. To compel observance of or obedience to: enforce a regulation. 2. To impose (a kind of behavior, for example); compel: enforce military discipline. 3. To give force to; reinforce: "enforces its plea with a description of the pains of hell" (Albert C. Baugh).

Synonyms: implement, invoke. The central meaning shared by these verbs is "to cause to be applied or carried out": enforced the rules; implementing the terms of the agreement; invoke emergency powers.

b) to affect [q'fekt] (впливати (на щось) = 1. To have an influence on or effect a change in: Inflation affects the buying power of the dollar. 2. To act on the emotions of; touch or move. 3.To attack or infect, as a disease: Rheumatic fever can affect the heart. 1. Psychology. a. A feeling or emotion as distinguished from cognition, thought, or action. b. A strong feeling having active consequences. 2.Obsolete. A disposition, feeling, or tendency.

Synonyms: affect, influence, impress, touch, move, strike. These verbs are compared as they mean to produce a mental or emotional effect. To affect is to act upon a person's emotions: The adverse criticism the book received didn't affect the author one way or another. Influence implies a degree of control or sway over the thinking and actions, as well as the emotions, of another: "Humanity is profoundly influenced by what you do" (John Paul II) To impress is to produce a marked, deep, often enduring effect: "The Tibetan landscape particularly impressed him" (Doris Kerns Quinn). Touch usually means to arouse a tender response, such as love, gratitude, or compassion: "The tributes[to the two deceased musicians]were fitting and touching" (Daniel Cariaga).

Move suggests profound emotional effect that sometimes leads to action or has a further consequence: The account of her experiences as a refugee moved us to tears. Strike implies keenness or force of mental response to a stimulus: I was struck by the sudden change in his behavior.

Usage Note: Affect and effect have no senses in common. As a verb affect is most commonly used in the sense of "to influence" (how smoking affects health). Effect means "to bring about or execute": layoffs designed to effect savings. Thus the sentence These measures may affect savings could imply that the measures may reduce savings that have already been realized, whereas These measures may effect savings implies that the measures will cause new savings to come about.

c) to urge [E:dZ] примушувати, наполягати = verb, transitive 1. To force or drive forward or onward; impel. 2. To entreat earnestly and often repeatedly; exhort. 3. To advocate earnestly the doing, consideration, or approval of; press for: urge passage of the bill; a speech urging moderation. 4. To stimulate; excite: "It urged him to an intensity like madness" (D.H. Lawrence). 5. To move or impel to action, effort, or speed; spur. verb, intransitive 1. To exert an impelling force; push vigorously. 2. To present a forceful argument, claim, or case.

d) smoothly ['smu:DlI] adv (1. гладко; рівно; плавно 2.добре, благополучно) = Having no obstructions or difficulties: a smooth operation.

e) to flow [flqV] (витікати, походити, виникати) = 1. a. To move or run smoothly with unbroken continuity, as in the manner characteristic of a fluid. b. To issue in a stream; pour forth: Sap flowed from the gash in the tree. 2. To circulate, as the blood in the body. 3. To move with a continual shifting of the component particles: wheat flowing into the bin; traffic flowing through the tunnel. 4. To proceed steadily and easily: The preparations flowed smoothly. 5. To exhibit a smooth or graceful continuity: The cadence of the poem flowed gracefully. 6. To hang loosely and gracefully: The cape flowed from his shoulders. 7. To arise; derive: Several conclusions flow from this hypothesis.

f) acceptance [qk'septqns] (прийняття; визнання; схвалення) = Favorable reception; approval. Belief in something; agreement.

g) loyalty ['lOIqltI] (вірність,відданість,лояльність,благонадійність) = Feelings of affection: My loyalties lie with my family. Faithfulness to obligations, duties, or observances. Exact correspondence with fact or with a given quality, condition, or event; accuracy, fidelity; loyalty implies a steadfast and devoted attachment that is not easily turned aside: loyalty to an oath; loyalty to one's family; party loyalty; loyalty to an ideal.

h) fine [faIn] (штраф, штрафувати) = A sum of money required to be paid as a penalty for an offense; To require the payment of a fine from; impose a fine on.

3. To force to leave; deprive of membership: expelled the student from college for cheating. Synonyms : banish, outcast, ostracize, outlaw, dismiss.

3. Use the collocations given below in the sentences of your own:

1. to control behavior

2. to be found guilty

3. to accept the standards of one’s society

4. divine right

5. to affect the group as a whole

6. to be a vital part of every society

7. to promote socialization through educational systems

440. 4. Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and phrases .Use them in sentences of your own and situations from the text:

• мати відношення, співвідноситись з чимось

• неслухняний( непокірний, упертий; той, хто не піддається впливу)

• впливати на людську діяльність

• оподаткування

• сприяти підготовці до життя в суспільстві

• штрафувати або виключати з складу

• ув'язнювати когось на законних підставах

• приведення до виконання

• судочинство (рос.судопроизводство; юрисдикція)

• головне джерело

• заохочувати(підтримувати) або вимагати певний вид поведінки

• заважати(перешкоджати) або забороняти

• суспільна (державна) форма правління

441. 5. Comment on the use of tenses, verbals or grammar constructions if any in the following sentences:

442. 1) Today, the people are regarded as the chief source of the government's authority in democratic countries.

443. 2) Any group may be said to have government.

444. 3) From earliest times government has been a vital part of every society.

445. 4) Through the years, different ideas about the source of a public government's sovereignty have developed.

446. 5) If the members of a group were permitted to ignore or disobey its rules, a society could not operate.

447. 6) A private government may fine or even expel a disobedient member.

448. 7) It is meant to keep life running smoothly for group members.

451. 8) Rules of conduct are not likely to have much effect unless people obey them.

452. 6. Give Ukrainian equivalents of the following words and word combinations:

1. to develop loyalty to the symbols

2. to imprison a person legally

3. law enforcement

4. the jurisdiction

5. national anthem

6. to exercise power

7. to use force within one’s boundaries

8. to encourage or require certain kinds of behavior

9. to discourage or forbid smth

10. rules of conduct

11. the threat of punishment

453. 7. Fill in the missing words and collocations:

454. a) Every society ……….. some people to make and enforce decisions that affect conduct ……………. the group.

455. b) When we study government we should also know something about ………… …………. ………… philosophy, science, and sociology.

456. c) Only ………….. …………………. have the right to define certain acts as crimes or to use physical ………… against disobedient people.

457. d) The legitimacy of a government depends in part …… the socialization of its ………………... .

458. e) The only way a person can escape such jurisdiction is ……… ……… of its area.

459. f) Most people ………….. the decisions of their group willingly.

460. 8. Make up a plan of the text in the form of statements (5 points).

461. 9. Match up the pairs of synonyms correspondingly.

     Synonym	Synonym
     a)to enforce	to influence
     b)to fine	to confiscate
     c)to expel	to press for
     d)acceptance	defiance
     e)smoothly	menace of penalty
     f)to urge	to ostracize
     g)to affect	to compel
     h)threat of punishment	quietly ['kwaIqtlI]
     i)flag	behaviour
     j)disobedience	acknowledgement
     k)conduct	banner

462. 10. Retell the text : a) in detail b) in brief .

463. 11. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the basic elements of government ?

2. Why does society need government ? Prove it by example.

3. What do rules of conduct deal with ?

4. Characterize different ideas about the source of a public government's sovereignty.