Cabinet (government) - Overview

Overview

In some countries, particularly those that use the Westminster system (e.g. the UK), the Cabinet collectively decides the government's policy and tactical direction, especially in regard to legislation passed by the parliament. 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 official advisory council to the head of government. In this way, the President gets opinions and advice in upcoming decisions. The second role of cabinet officials is to administer executive branch government agencies or departments (in the United States, these are the federal executive departments)

In most countries, including those that use the Westminster system, Cabinet ministers are appointed from among sitting members of the legislature and remain members of the legislature while serving in the cabinet. In other countries, especially countries with a presidential system, the opposite is true - Cabinet members must not be sitting legislators, and legislators who are offered appointments must resign if they wish to accept.

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.). In a few governments, as in the case of the United States, the Philippines, Mexico and the United Kingdom, the title of secretary is also used for some Cabinet members ("Secretary of Education," or "Secretary of State" in the UK). Attorneys general also sit in the cabinet. The day-to-day role of most cabinet members is to serve as the head of one segment of the national bureaucracy to whom all other employees in that department report.

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.