Cabinet (government)

A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the top leaders of the executive branch. They are usually called ministers, but in some jurisdictions are sometimes called secretaries.

The functions of a cabinet are varied: in some countries it is a collegial 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, the cabinet is called "Council of Ministers" or "Government Council" or lesser known names such as "Federal Council" (in Switzerland), "Inner Council" or "High Council". These countries may differ in the way that the cabinet is used or established.

In some countries, particularly those that use a parliamentary system (e.g., the UK), 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 gets opinions and advice in upcoming decisions.

Legally, under both types of systems, the Westminster 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 he does not agree with it.

In parliamentary democracies which do not have the Westminster system, very often the Cabinet does not "advise" the Head of State as he (or she) plays only a ceremonial role. Instead, it is usually the Head of Government who holds all means of power in his hands (e.g. in Germany, Sweden, Spain, etc.) and the Cabinet reports to him (or her).

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