A cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a Monarchic or Republican Nation-state A dictator is an Authoritarian ruler (eg Absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an Absolute President is a Title leaders of Organizations companies, Trade unions universities, and countries. For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. This article focuses on the cases where the Head of Government is a separate office from the Head of State Chancellor or chancellour (archaic ( Latin: cancellarius) is an official Title used in countries whose civilization has arisen A premier is a title for the Head of government in some countries This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of Government Public administration, sometimes led by a minister, but usually a senior A minister or a secretary is a Politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional Government. A presidential system is a System of government where an executive branch exists and presides (hence the term separately from the Legislature The semi-presidential system is a System of government in which a prime minister and a President are both active participants in the day-to-day administration A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which Cohabitation in government occurs in Semi-presidential systems such as France 's system when the President is from a different Political party The Westminster system is a democratic Parliamentary system of Government modelled after the British government (the Parliament of the United This is a list of current heads of state and government, showing heads of state and heads of government where different mainly in Parliamentary systems This is a list of the offices of Heads of state, Heads of government, cabinet, and Legislature, of sovereign states. A governor is a governing official usually the executive (at least nominally to different degrees also politically and administratively of a non-sovereign level of government A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council or an Executive Committee.

Overview

In some countries, particularly those under the Westminster system, the cabinet collectively decides the government's policy and tactical direction, especially in regard to legislation passed by the parliament. In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity The Westminster system is a democratic Parliamentary system of Government modelled after the British government (the Parliament of the United TalkParliament#Screen-size. -->A  parliament is a Legislature, especially in those In countries with a presidential system, such as the United States, the cabinet does not function as a collective legislative influence; rather, their primary role is as an unofficial advisory council to the head of government, consisting of the heads of the executive departments they are appointed to lead. A presidential system is a System of government where an executive branch exists and presides (hence the term separately from the Legislature The United States of America —commonly referred to as the This article focuses on the cases where the Head of Government is a separate office from the Head of State In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. Instead of just one view, the president gets opinions and advice in upcoming decisions. In some countries, cabinets are required to be appointed from sitting members of the legislature while in others, such as the United States, cabinet members may not be sitting legislators; they must resign their legislative office if they accept a cabinet appointment. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

In most governments, members of the cabinet are given the title of minister, and each holds a different portfolio of government duties ("Minister for the Environment", etc). A minister or a secretary is a Politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional Government. A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of Government Public administration, sometimes led by a minister, but usually a senior In a few governments, as in the case of the United States and the Philippines, the title of secretary is also used for some cabinet members ("Secretary of Education", etc). The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP A minister or a secretary is a Politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional Government. The day-to-day role of most cabinet members is to serve as the head of one segment of the national bureaucracy, as the head civil servant to which all other employees in that department report. Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity usually in large organizations and government See also Bureaucrat The term civil service has two distinct meanings Branch of governmental service in which individuals are hired on the basis

The size of cabinets varies, although most contain around ten to twenty ministers. Researchers have found an inverse correlation between a country's level of development and cabinet size: on average, the more developed a country is, the smaller is its cabinet. In Probability theory and Statistics, correlation, (often measured as a correlation coefficient) indicates the strength and direction of a linear This article is about international development See the closely related concept of development cooperation. ^[1]

Origins of cabinets

Historically, cabinets began as smaller sub-groups of the English Privy Council. A privy council is a body that advises the Head of state of a nation on how to exercise their executive authority, typically but not always in the context of a The term comes from the name for a relatively small and private room used as a study or retreat. A cabinet was one of a number of terms for a private room in the Domestic architecture and that of Palaces of Early Modern Europe, serving as Phrases such as "cabinet counsel", meaning advice given in private to the monarch, occur from the late 16th century, and, given the non-standardized spelling of the day, it is often hard to distinguish whether "council" or "counsel" is meant. ^[2] The OED credits Francis Bacon in his Essays (1605) with the first use of "Cabinet council", where it is described as a foreign habit, of which he disapproves: "For which inconveniences, the doctrine of Italy, and practice of France, in some kings’ times, hath introduced cabinet counsels; a remedy worse than the disease". The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English Francis Bacon 1st Viscount St Alban KC QC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626 was an English Philosopher, Statesman, and author ^[3] Charles I began a formal "Cabinet Council" from his accession in 1625, as his Privy Council, or "private council", was evidently not private enough, and the first recorded use of "cabinet" by itself for such a body comes from 1644, and is again hostile and associates the term with dubious foreign practices. Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. ^[4] The process has repeated itself in recent times, as leaders have felt the need to have a Kitchen Cabinet. Kitchen cabinets are the built-in Furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of Food, Cooking equipment, and often Silverware and

Westminster cabinets

Under the Westminster system, members of the cabinet are collectively responsible for all government policy. The Westminster system is a democratic Parliamentary system of Government modelled after the British government (the Parliament of the United Responsible government is a conception of a System of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster All cabinet decisions are made by consensus – a vote is never taken in a cabinet meeting – and all ministers, whether senior and in the cabinet or junior ministers, must publicly support the policy of the government, regardless of any private reservations. Although, in theory, all cabinet decisions are taken collectively by the cabinet, in practice many decisions are delegated to the various sub-committees of the cabinet, which report to the full cabinet on their findings and recommendations. As these recommendations have already been agreed upon by those in the cabinet who hold affected ministerial portfolios, the recommendations are usually agreed to by the full cabinet with little further discussion.

Cabinet deliberations are secret and documents dealt with in cabinet are confidential. Most of the documentation associated with cabinet deliberations will only be publicly released a considerable period after the particular cabinet disbands; for example, thirty years after they were discussed. The " thirty year rule " is the popular name given to a law in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Australia that states that the yearly

In theory the prime minister/premier is first among equals. This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. Primus inter pares ( Latin) or First among equals is a phrase which indicates that a person is the most senior of a group of people However, the prime minister is the person whom the monarch or president will ultimately take advice from on the exercise of executive power, which may include the powers to declare war, use nuclear weapons, expel ministers from the cabinet, and to determine their portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle. Advice, in Constitutional law, is formal usually binding instruction given by one constitutional officer of state to another In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. In the Parliamentary system a cabinet shuffle or reshuffle is an informal term for an event that occurs when a Head of government rotates or changes the This position in relation to the executive power means that, in practice, the prime minister has a high degree of control over the cabinet: any spreading of responsibility for the overall direction of the government has usually been done as a matter of preference by the prime minister – either because they are unpopular with their backbenchers, or because they believe that the cabinet should collectively decide things.

The shadow cabinet consists of the leading members, or frontbenchers, of an opposition party, who generally hold critic portfolios "shadowing" cabinet ministers, questioning their decisions and proposing policy alternatives. The Shadow Cabinet (also called the Shadow Front Bench) is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the In many Parliaments and other similar assemblies seating is typically arranged in banks or rows with each Political party or Caucus grouped together Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government particularly in a Westminster -based Parliamentary system

The Westminster cabinet system is the foundation of cabinets as they are known at the federal and state (or provincial) jurisdictions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and other Commonwealth of Nations countries whose parliamentary model is closely based on that of the United Kingdom. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located

Presidential cabinets

Main article: United States Cabinet

Ronald Reagan's cabinet, 1981

Under the doctrine of separation of powers, a cabinet under a presidential system of government is part of the executive branch. The United States Cabinet (usually simplified as "the Cabinet" is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the Executive branch of the Federal government Separation of powers, a term ascribed to French Enlightenment Political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu, is a model for the Governance A presidential system is a System of government where an executive branch exists and presides (hence the term separately from the Legislature In theory, at least, they carry out policy rather than create it. In addition to administering his or her segment of the executive branch, a cabinet member is responsible for advising the head of government on areas within his or her purview. They are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the head of government; they are strongly subordinate to the executive and can be replaced at any time. Normally, since they are appointed by the executive, they are members of the same political party, but the executive is free to select anyone, including opposition party members, subject to Congressional confirmation.

Normally, the legislature or a segment thereof must confirm the appointment of a cabinet member; this is one of the many checks and balances built into a presidential system. Separation of powers, a term ascribed to French Enlightenment Political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu, is a model for the Governance The legislature may also remove a cabinet member through a usually difficult impeachment process. Impeachment is the first of two stages in a specific process for a legislative body to forcibly remove a Government official

In the most famous example of a presidential system cabinet, the United States Cabinet, cabinet members do not serve to influence legislative policy to the degree found in a Westminster system; however, each member wields significant influence in matters relating to their executive department. The United States Cabinet (usually simplified as "the Cabinet" is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the Executive branch of the Federal government Since the administration of Franklin Roosevelt, the President of the United States has acted most often through his own executive offices or the National Security Council rather than through the cabinet as was the case in earlier U. The Executive Office of the President ( EOP) consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting The White House National Security Council ( NSC) in the United States is the principal forum used by the President for considering National S. administrations.

European Union

Further information: Cabinet (European Commission)

In some European countries and in the institutions of the European Union, a cabinet (pronounced [kabiˈne] as in French) carries a different meaning; it refers to the private office of consultants and assistants working directly for a minister or senior executive. In the European Commission, a cabinet is the personal office of a European Commissioner. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people

See also

• List of national governments
• Ministerial responsibility
• Cabinet collective responsibility
• Cabinet government
• Minister of the Crown

References

1. ^ Davide Castelvecchi. This is a list of the offices of Heads of state, Heads of government, cabinet, and Legislature, of sovereign states. Ministerial responsibility or Individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention in governments using the Westminster System that a Cabinet collective responsibility is constitutional convention in governments using the Westminster System that members of the Cabinet must publicly Cabinet government refers to any government in which most Executive power is invested in a Cabinet - often the members act with Cabinet collective responsibility Minister of the Crown is the formal constitutional term used in the Commonwealth realms to describe a minister to the reigning sovereign "The Undeciders: More decision-makers bring less efficiency", ScienceNews, May 9th, 2008.  
2. ^ OED Cabinet
3. ^ Bacon, Essay "On Counsel"
4. ^ OED Cabinet