Topic: What do we need the President for?

Author: Anna Rabiega

Addressee:

8th‑grade primary school student.

Core curriculum:

XI. Democracy in the Republic of Poland.

The student:

5) explains the principle of the republican form of government; presents the election method and fundamental competences of the President of the Republic of Poland; finds information about the political life of former presidents elected in the general election, and about the activities of the incumbent President of the Republic of Poland.

The general aim of education:

The student presents the main organs of public authorities.

Learning outcomes:

The student:

• explains the President’s competences in the law‑making process: the right to introduce legislation, the right to veto bills, the right to refer bills to the Constitutional Tribunal.

• analyses the role of the President in the law‑making process.

Key competences:

• communicating in a foreign language,

• learning to learn,

• social and civic competences.

Teaching methods:

• discussion,

• fishbowl conversation,

• teaching conversation using schemes, movies, interactive exercises.

Forms of work:

• self‑learning,

• group work,

• whole‑class activity.

Material & equipment needed:

• computers with loudspeakers/headphones and internet access, headphones,

• multimedia resources from the e‑textbook – chapter: Prezydent wszystkich Polaków, What do we need the President for?,

• interactive whiteboard/blackboard, felt‑tip pen/a piece of chalk.

Lesson plan overview (Process):

Introduction:

1. The teacher presents the goal of the lesson: You will find out what the competences of the President of the Republic of Poland in the law‑making process are, and what the role of the Head of State in the legislative process is.

2. The teacher asks the students:

• Do you think the President should be able to influence the work of the parliament? Why?

• What competences should he have?

The students present their suggestions, a volunteer writes them down on the board. The teacher asks the students to verify their ideas by comparing them with an interactive scheme “The President’s competences towards the Sejm and the Senate” from the abstract. He asks one of the students to sum up the President’s competences in this area.

Implementation:

1. The teacher asks the students: What does it mean that the President has “vetoed an act”? He asks them to provide specific situations (what the act was about, what the President’s reservations were, what the consequences of the veto were). The students present their ideas and write them down on the board. Then, together with the teacher, they verify the ideas. The teacher using the method of a teaching conversation supplements the information and explains how the right to veto works. The teacher asks one of the students to sum up, what the meaning of a veto is.

If the students are unable to provide any examples, the teacher himself describes an example of a recent presidential veto (the example should be up‑to‑date, to make it probable, that the students will remember the situation once prompted).

2. The teacher offers the students a closer look at the president's competences in the legislative process. To this end they watch a presentation „The President in the law‑making process” from the abstract. The teacher asks the students to pay attention to the possible President’s actions while watching the presentation.

3. As a summary of the film, the teacher, with the help of his students, writes on the board three possible actions of the President towards an act of law which reaches him from the Sejm and its possible further fate. The students name the actions they can remember from the presentation. If necessary, the teacher by means of a teaching conversation method supplements the list of the President’s competences in the area.

4. The teacher asks the students to split into two groups. He informs them that they will take part in the discussion on the subject “What do we need the President for?”. He explains that the type of the discussion they are going to use is called a fishbowl conversation. He informs them, that the first group will sit in a circle and discuss the subject. (If the students are unable to find the arguments themselves, the teacher may help them at the beginning by asking: What are the consequences of engaging the President into the law‑making process? Does this involvement facilitate and foster the legislative procedure? Or does it make it more difficult? Are there any advantages from the point of view of the Nation, that the President represents? Or from the point of view of the President carrying out his duty to ensure the observance of the Constitution? etc.). The teacher also reminds the rules that apply to any discussion, e.g. to be concise, speak on the subject, not to offend others or interrupt them, not to raise you voice, but to listen carefully to what others have to say, etc. The teacher explains, that in the meantime the other group will sit around the discussing group and observe the course of the discussion. Their task is to analyze the choice of arguments and their effectiveness, the observance of the rules of the discussion and the overall course of the debate. The teacher sets a precise time for the discussion.

5. After the debate students from the two groups may switch roles. Afterwards the teacher asks volunteers to evaluate the discussion skills, the ability to stick to the subject, the choice of arguments, etc. of their colleagues from another group.

Summary:

1. The teacher informs the students that to review the new knowledge and skills acquired during the lesson they will do exercises 1, 2 and 3 from the abstract „What do we need the President for?”. Together with the teacher, they discuss the correct answers.

2. At the end of the lesson the teacher asks: If there was going to be a test on the material we have covered today, what questions do you think would you have to answer?

Probably the students will name: the competences of the President towards the legislative; the actions the President may choose to take towards the act of law he is presented with for signing, the arguments and counterarguments regarding the President’s role in the law‑making process (whether he is an important and necessary element of the process or not).

If the students do not manage to name all the most important questions, the teacher may complement their suggestions.

3. Homework proposal:

a. Write a short note on the role of the President in the legislative process. Describe his competences. Give two arguments supporting the view that the President is an important element of the process, and two arguments supporting the view that his involvement is redundant and undesirable.

b. Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise at the end of the chapter.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

What do we need the President for?

Is the President with limited competence necessary at all? Can he really, like the Constitution states:

• be the supreme representative of the Republic of Poland and the guarantor of the continuity of State authority,

• ensure observance of the Constitution,

• safeguard the sovereignty and security of the State as well as the inviolability and integrity of its territory (the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, art. 126)?

Or is he just there to smile for the camera at official international meetings? And occasionally veto a bill to make life harder for the government?

One of the President’s responsibilities is to assure the quality of the law. If the President does not approve of the piece of legislation, he may veto the bill, and send it back to the Sejm for reconsideration. The Sejm is can to repass the bill, but only by a three‑fifths majority vote in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of deputies, according to the Constitution. He may also refer the bill to the Constitutional Tribunal. The Tribunal judges upon the bill’s conformity to the Constitution. Moreover, the President has the right to introduce legislation, which means he may prepare and suggest bills himself. The right to introduce legislation is a very important function in the law‑making process.

To better remember all the competences, watch a movie “The President in the law‑making process”. Then answer the question in exercise.