Task 2. Work with a partner. Look at the dialogue and discuss what Brandon and Alice say about the following subjects.

a. distinctive features of state and society

b. purpose, organisation and method as the aspects to differentiate between state and society

Task 3.

A) Give the English equivalents.

1) иметь очень важное значение;

2) ранние политические мыслители;

3) начать свое существование;

4) происхождение общества;

5) предшествовать чему-то;

6) развитьмысль;

7) применять законы;

8) не иметь такой власти;

9) четко выявлять, определять;

10) состоятьизмножествасвязей;

11) применятьметодпринуждения;

12) использоватьподход;

13) добровольное действие.

 

B) Comment on the quotations

o The best of all governments is that which teaches us to govern ourselves. ( Goethe )

o You can't run a government solely on a business basis... Government should be human. It should have a heart. (Lehman)

o No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. (Lincoln)

o Wise kings generally have wise counsellors; and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one. (Diogenes)

Making use of the word combinations from the list.

 

Task 4. Do it in English making use of Unit 3 vocabulary:

Общественный строй является предметом изучения всех общественных и юридических наук. К экономическим основам общественного строя относятся:

- тип собственности и статус ее отдельных форм,

- отношения, связанные с производством и обменом, распределением и потреблением материальных и духовных благ,

- принципы руководства и управления экономикой.

Социальные основы общественного строя включают:

- социальные и национальные отношения,

- отношения между трудом и капиталом,

- отношения между государством и личностью,

- семейные отношения,

- отношения в области экологии, здравоохранения, социального обеспечения и культуры.

Политическими основами общественного строя являются отношения, возникающие по поводу осуществления государственной власти через политические организации, которые в совокупности образуют политическую систему – механизм политической власти.

 

 

Task 5. Read the following supporting materials and get ready to analyze and discuss the given information in the form of a dialogue.

Government Creates Social Order?

Inside the family unit, people can interact without a government. This is because the family unit is small and simple. In families, interactions take place face-to-face. Each family member, typically, has a strong stake in keeping the family going as well as in getting along. The members spend much of their development time in the family unit. Outside of family, individuals often have much less stake in any social interaction and the interactions are usually more limited.

Larger social units are too complex for rules and order to arise spontaneously. Some of these social units have come into existence outside or in spite of government. Trade relations that predate government are a case of the former. Churches that cross national boundaries and are actually oppressed by some governments are instances of the latter. Further examples are languages, money, and social conventions such as when to have meals or when to sleep. There's no way to insure that they will be maintained or that they’re as stable as the family.

Government is necessary to overcome this problem of complexity by insuring a context in which people can be assured of certain social regularities. Governments, after all, produce some even if not all social regularity. For example, governments can mandate traffic rules. Noise ordinances can insure quiet times when most people are at rest. A host of other laws guide people in their lives. In other words, without government, there would be no social order above the family level.

READING FOR CROSS-CULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS

Read the excerpts below about the British class system. Make use of the given information in the role-play.

The British Class System

Britain was once a class-ridden society. Today, multiculturalism and a changing economy are gradually eroding the British class system. But some features of the system still remain.

What is class? Sociologists define social class as the grouping of people by occupations. Doctors and lawyers and university teachers are given more status than unskilled workers. The different positions represent different levels of power, influence and money. In days gone by your class would affect your chances of getting an education, a job, etc. And it would also affect the people who you could socialise with and marry. Today this type of getting of the thing is all-but-gone with the high- profile exception of the Royal family.

The British Social Class System The British society has often been considered to be divided into three main groups:

- Upper Class (Often people with inherited wealth. It includes some of the oldest families, with many of them being titles aristocrats.)

- Middle Class (The majority of the population of Britain. They include industrialists, professionals, business people and shop owners.)

- Lower or Working class (People who are agricultural, mine and factory

workers.)

The British Class System Today Although some people in the UK refer to themselves as ‘working- class’, ‘lower-middle’ or ‘upper-middle’ (and of course there are those who think of themselves as the ‘elite’ class), to the majority of the British the meanings don’t seem to matter much these days.

ROLE PLAY