Cabinet (government)

The function of a cabinet varies: in some countries, it is a collegiate decision-making body with collective responsibility, while in others it may function either as a purely advisory body or an assisting institution to a decision-making head of state or head of government.


In some countries, particularly those that use a parliamentary system (e.g., the United Kingdom), the cabinet collectively decides the government's 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 obtains opinions and advice relating to forthcoming decisions.


Legally, under both types of system, the Westminster variant of a parliamentary system and the presidential system, the cabinet "advises" the head of state: the difference is that, in a parliamentary system, the monarch, viceroy, or ceremonial president will almost always follow this advice, whereas, in a presidential system, a president who is also head of government and political leader may depart from the cabinet's advice if they do not agree with it.


In practice, in nearly all parliamentary democracies that do not follow the Westminster system, and in three countries that do (Japan, Ireland, and Israel), very often the cabinet does not "advise" the head of state as they play only a ceremonial role. Instead, it is usually the head of government (usually called "prime minister") who holds all means of power in their hands (e.g. in Germany, Sweden, etc.) and to whom the cabinet reports.


In both presidential and parliamentary systems, cabinet officials administer executive branches, government agencies, or departments. Cabinets are also important originators for legislation. Cabinets and ministers are usually in charge of the preparation of proposed legislation in the ministries before it is passed to the parliament. Thus, often the majority of new legislation actually originates from the cabinet and its ministries.

In presidential systems such as the United States, members of the cabinet are chosen by the president, and may also have to be confirmed by one or both of the houses of the legislature (in the case of the U.S., it is the Senate that confirms members with a simple majority vote).


Depending on the country, cabinet members must, must not, or may be members of parliament. The following are examples of this variance:


Some countries that adopt a presidential system also place restrictions on who are eligible for nomination to cabinet based on electoral outcomes. For instance in the Philippines, candidates who have lost in any election in the country may not be appointed to cabinet positions within one (1) year of that election.^[2]


The candidate prime minister and/or the president selects the individual ministers to be proposed to the parliament, which may accept or reject the proposed cabinet composition. Unlike in a presidential system, the cabinet in a parliamentary system must not only be confirmed, but enjoy the continuing confidence of the parliament: a parliament can pass a motion of no confidence to remove a government or individual ministers. Often, but not necessarily, these votes are taken across party lines.


In some countries (e.g. the U.S.) attorneys general also sit in the cabinet, while in many others this is strictly prohibited, as the attorneys general are considered to be part of the judicial branch of government. Instead, there is a Minister of Justice, separate from the attorney general. Furthermore, in Sweden, Finland, and Estonia, the cabinet includes a Chancellor of Justice, a civil servant that acts as the legal counsel to the cabinet.


In multi-party systems, the formation of a government may require the support of multiple parties. Thus, a coalition government is formed. Continued cooperation between the participating political parties is necessary for the cabinet to retain the confidence of the parliament. For this, a government platform is negotiated, in order for the participating parties to toe the line and support their cabinet. However, this is not always successful: constituent parties of the coalition or members of parliament can still vote against the government, and the cabinet can break up from internal disagreement or be dismissed by a motion of no confidence.


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.^[3]